Alexey Ostrovskiy awarded a "Maternal Glory" honor medal of the Smolensk region named after Anna Timofeevna Gagarina to mothers with many children

Alexey Ostrovskiy awarded a "Maternal Glory" honor medal of the Smolensk region named after Anna Timofeevna Gagarina to mothers with many children

Traditionally, on the eve of Mother's Day, which is celebrated in Russia on the last Sunday of November, the regional Administration building hosted the ceremony at which Governor Alexey Ostrovskiy awarded 15 mothers of large families with a "Maternal Glory" honor medal of the Smolensk region named after Anna Timofeevna Gagarina and announced the results of the regional Internet - photo contest "Happy Family moments".

Welcoming the mothers with many children and their families, Alexey Ostrovskiy said: "This very important for our region award was established by the Administration of the region in honor of the most prominent women of Smolensk. It seems to me that the main purpose of any woman is to be a mother. Therefore, the most significant and honored women in our region, regardless of the presence or absence of other achievements at work or in public life, of course, are you - those who give birth and bring up our future generation, and therefore the future of the Smolensk region".

The "Maternal Glory" honor medal of the Smolensk region named after Anna Timofeevna Gagarina is awarded to mothers with many children on the basis of the regional law “On the "Maternal Glory" honor medal of the Smolensk region named after Anna Timofeevna Gagarina”. The women who, since January 1, 2008, gave birth to (adopted in the manner prescribed by law children under 8 years old) and the fourth (or) subsequent child and bring (brought)  up children can claim this high rank.

Also, the honor medal can be awarded to mothers, who were the guardians (trustees), and raised three or more orphans and children left without parental care, until they reached the age of 18. All mothers awarded this medal receive a cash payment of 15 thousand rubles.

This year, the Medal of Honor for the achievements in bringing up children and strengthening family traditions was awarded to fifteen mothers from different districts of the Smolensk region:

- Ashikhmina Ekaterina Nikolaevna (Pochinok district, 5 children);

- Belaventseva Oksana Mikhailovna (Roslavl district, 4 children);

- Grischenkova Elena Valerievna (Smolensk, 4 children);

- Dymskaya Natalia Nikolaevna (Demidov district, 4 children);

- Evdokimova Nadezhda vanovna (Dukhovschina district, 4 children);

- Zhukova Svetlana Alexandrovna (Pochinok district, 6 children);

- Zubova Tatyana Sergeevna (Gagarin district, 4 children);

- Ivanina Svetlana Anatolievna (Krasny district, 4 children);

- Malysheva Inna Sergeevna (Sychevska district, 5 children);

- Maslakova Larisa Alexandrovna (Smolensk, 7 children);

- Michirova Zarina Bezarbekovna (Dukhovschina district, 4 children);

- Odintsova Marina Pavlovna (Gagarin district, 6 children);

- Portasova Liliya Mkhailovna (Smolensk, 4 children);

- Starostina OlgaVladimirovna (Smolensk, 4 children);

- Tymoshenko Elena Yakovlevna (Krasny district, 5 children).

In total, the Regional "Maternal Glory" honor medal of the Smolensk region named after Anna Timofeevna Gagarina has been awarded to 186 mothers of the Smolensk region.

Also, as part of the ceremony, the Head of the region awarded the Governor's Letters of Appreciation and prizes to the winners of the regional Internet photo contest "Family happy moments". The competition, which was aimed at the formation of public opinion about the high importance of family and family education through the art of photography, was held in six categories during the period from July 20 to November 4, 2015.

At the first stage, the contest photos were selected by the Administrations of municipal districts and City districts. The selection at the second stage was carried out by the relevant Department and the winners were chosen in each category:

- Avanesova Maria Igorevna in the category "Favorite Place" – the photograph "My village";

- Mihaylova Inna Vladimirovna in the category "Focus on Dad" – the photograph "Fun Fishing";

- Shipuleva Tatiana Valerievna in the category "Woman - The Cradle of Life" – the photograph "Mom's joy";

- Sokolov Ruslan Vladimirovich in the category "Family curiosities" – the photograph "I'd like to eat and sleep";

- Lopatenkova Olga Viktorovna in the category "Family harmony" – the photograph "Fiery summer in the family".

The greatest number of votes among all the photographs of the contest was given to the photo of Alexander Solovyov "Family harmony".

The event finished with a flashmob prepared by the student community of the region. More than 100 children gathered at Lenin Square and formed a big heart, expressing their love and gratitude to Moms.