Kirienko noted the courage of Russian martial artists in defense of the Motherland

Russian martial arts masters show courage in defending their homeland, First Deputy Head of the Russian Presidential Administration Sergei Kiriyenko said on December 6.

"Real courage is shown today by our guys, heroes, among whom there are a lot of Russian martial arts masters. Of the most different types and styles of martial arts," he said at the Tornado aikido award ceremony in Moscow.

Among the defenders of our Motherland today there are many aikido masters who heroically show themselves on the front lines, Kirienko noted.

He called it a great honor to present the award to the family of one of them, the fallen martial arts master Andrei Besedin. Before the award Kirienko suggested those present at the ceremony to observe a minute of silence in memory of all fallen heroes.

Earlier, on October 8, Moscow hosted the ceremony of awarding the XV national award "Golden Belt", which recognizes special achievements in the field of martial arts. Participants of the Special Military Operation (SMO) were honored with separate awards. As Kiriyenko noted in his commentary to Izvestia at the time, many awards were given to true martial arts masters not for sporting victories, but for their feats and courage in defending the homeland on the front lines.