State Prize of the Russian Federation
The State Prize of the Russian Federation, officially translated in Russia as Russian Federation National Award, is a state honorary prize established in 1992 following the breakup of the Soviet Union. In 2004 the rules for selection of laureates and the status of the award were significantly changed, making them closer to such awards as the Nobel Prize or the Soviet Lenin Prize.
State Prize of the Russian Federation
Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow
Patriarch Alexy II was the 15th Patriarch of Moscow and all Rus', the primate of the Russian Orthodox Church.
Alexy, in the Kremlin Cathedral of the Annunciation, presents Vladimir Putin with an icon of Saint Alexander Nevsky at the latter's presidential inauguration on 7 May 2000.
Modern fresco of the Donskoi Monastery, representing Alexy II bringing the relics of Patriarch Tikhon into the monastery.
Alexy II speaking to orthodox believers in Pereslavl (1997)
Patriarch Alexy II (right) with Metropolitan Laurus (Škurla), Hierarch of the ROCOR (left) at the Peredelkino residence.