President of Russia: Vladimir Putin took part in the Presenting the Volunteer of Russia 2018 award and the Russian Geographical Society awards ceremony

Vladimir Putin attended the Volunteer of Russia 2018 award ceremony held on the International Volunteer Day.

Vladimir Putin presented the Volunteer of Russia 2018 award to Anton Korotchenko from the Smolensk Region for his Healthy Village project.

The award ceremony was held as part of the International Volunteer Forum, the final event of the Year of Volunteer in Russia.

Vladimir Putin took part in the Russian Geographical Society awards ceremony.

The President presented one of the awards to Igor Spiridenko, winner in the category Best Expedition in Russia and director of the Tyurikov’s Aircraft. Return project.

The purpose of the award-winning expedition was to recover the legendary Douglas C-47 aircraft from the tundra region on the Taimyr Peninsula. This is the only remaining intact aircraft in Russia from a series that were given to the Soviet Union by the Allies as part of the WWII-era land lease programme.

The creators of the National Nature Reserve Heritage Lesson online project won Best Educational Project in Geography. Interactive lessons have been held in over 20, 000 schools across Russia.

The best science project is Lomonosov Moscow State University’s Digital Herbarium, a database of biodiversity with a million samples. Only three countries in the world have similar databases.

Best History and Culture Project went to participants of the Flooded Sacred Sites of Mologa, a large-scale study of the Rybinskoye Reservoir area.

Goodsurfing, an online service that helps combine travelling with volunteering, was awarded Best Youth Project. The project offers travel opportunities to 59 countries, and has brought together volunteers from 73 countries.

Bears of Kamchatka: Early Life, a documentary film, was named Best Media Project. Its authors spent seven months watching bear families and bear cub development. The documentary has received 17 film festival prizes.

Pure Games, a team competition in the collection and sorting of waste to clear natural landmarks, won Best Nature Conservation Project.

A total of 542 entries from 76 regions of Russia and other countries were submitted this year.