By President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin’s Decree No. 590 of October 14, 2021, high state awards are conferred on staff members of the Department for External Church Relations of the Moscow Patriarchate.
The Medals for “Services to the Motherland”, Class II, are conferred upon Archpriest Sergiy
Zvonarev, DECR secretary for the affairs of the diaspora, and Archpriest Igor Yakimchuk, DECR
secretary for inter-Orthodox relations.
As it is stated in the document, the high state awards are conferred on them “for the considerable contribution to the development of international and inter-confessional relations and long-standing diligent work”.
DECR Communication Service/Patriarchia.ru