December 18 in the Kremlin, President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin presented state awards for outstanding achievements in the field of human rights protection and charitable activities.

This year, the winners were chairperson of the Moscow Helsinki Group Lyudmila Alekseeva, and Vladimir Vavilov, chairperson of the board of the Anzhela Vavilova Regional Public Charity Foundation for Children with Leukemia, Republic of Tatarstan.

The selection of candidates to be awarded with the State Prize of the Russian Federation for outstanding achievements in the field of human rights activities was carried out by the Public Commission under the President of the Russian Federation, headed by High Commissioner for Human Rights in the Russian Federation Tatiana Moskalkova.

The Public Commission was established in accordance with the Presidential Decree as of July 30, 2016, and was composed of well-known human rights defenders, scholars and experts in the field of protecting human and civil rights and freedoms.

State awards for achievements in the field of human rights protection and charitable activities were established by the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation in 2015. The first laureates were public figure and human rights activist Elizaveta Glinka and director of the organization «Children’s Hospice» Alexander Tkachenko.