PERM, May 12 (AVN) - Colonel-General Anatoly Sergeyev, Volga military district commander, will hand the star of the Hero of Russia to parents of Private Aleksei Zharov, killed in combat with Chechen rebels on October 26 1999, a source in the district staff told the Military News Agency.
It is expected that the Friday's award ceremony in the town of Lysva, Perm region, will be attended by Governor Gennady Igumnov and Russian President's envoy to Perm Region Gennady Zaitsev.
Aleksei Zharov was recruited in 1998 fresh after school. He served as a rifleman in the 506th guard motorised rifle regiment of the 27th motorised rifle division. He participated in liquidation of illegal armed formations in Chechnya beginning from September 1999.
On October 26 1999 Zharov's battalion was attacking the 348.0 height of the Tersky ridge. Aleksei was the first to enter the enemy's battery and opposing the militants face-to-face he killed four of them with point-blank fire but was mortally wounded.
The courageous and self-sacrificing actions of the soldier were a turning point in the battle, and helped occupy the height. Zharov was conferred the title of the Hero of Russia post mortem by a presidential decree of March 10, 2000, the source said.