Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin has given Russia's highest award to a police officer who was killed by militants after refusing to renounce his duties.
Magomed Nurbagandov from the volatile North Caucasus province of Dagestan was captured by Islamic militants and shot dead in July. Security services later found a video showing the officer's captors demanding that he urge his colleagues to resign from the police.
Instead, Nurbagandov defied them, saying "Keep on working, brothers!" before being killed.
During Thursday's Kremlin award ceremony, Putin praised the 31-year-old officer as a model for others and handed the Hero of Russia medal to his parents.
Dagestan has become the epicenter of an Islamist insurgency after two separatist wars in neighboring Chechnya. Militants mount regular attacks on police.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
