VLASIKHA, Moscow Region, May 6 (AVN) - Strategic Missile Forces Commander Vladimir Yakovlev on Saturday handed over state awards to surviving participants of the disastrous state tests of the R-16 intercontinental ballistic missile that took place at the Baikonur spaceport in October 24, 1960.
The new Russian missile designed by Academician Yangel exploded right at the launch pad, killing dozens of people, including the first ever Strategic Missile Forces commander, Marshal Mitrofan Nedelin.
The marshal was buried with honours by the Kremlin Wall in Moscow. The majority of officers, soldiers and civilians were buried in a common grave at Baikonur. Their death was not reported officially until late 1990s.
Last year, Yakovlev initiated large-scale search works to locate surviving participants of the tests and relatives of the killed. When the works were completed, the commander petitioned the country's leadership, to award all those who had been involved in the tests. Boris Yeltsin, then president of the Russian Federation, signed a corresponding order on December 20, 1999.
The awarding ceremony took place in the town of Vlasikha where the Strategic Missile Forces Staff is located. A total of 99 people were awarded the Order of Courage, most of them post mortem.
Only five officers who formed part of the spaceport's crew managed to make it to the ceremony. They are Anatoly Babenkov, Vladimir Boiko, Stanislav Pavlov, and Sergei Titov. Retired Colonel-General Konstantin Gerchik, then chief of the spaceport, received the order in December last year.
The veterans who could not arrive at Vlasikha and relatives of the deceased will be handed the awards in the localities where they are residing.