Russia awards ‘Order of Friendship’ to four Pakistanis

ISLAMABAD: Four Pakistanis have been awarded the ‘Order of Friendship’ by Russian President Vladimir Putin for rescuing Russian mountaineer Alexander Gukov.

In July, a Pakistan Army team had rescued the Russian mountaineer who had been stranded on the Latok 1 mountain peak which is a part of the Karakoram range at a height of 20,650 feet where he was stuck for six days and was rescued after an intense helicopter mission.

According to an official statement issued by the Russian Gazette, the official government newspaper, “Kazi Muhammad, Abid Rafik, Muhammad Anzhum Rafik and Fakhar-e-Abbas have become Knights of the ‘Order of Friendship’, for their participation in the operation to save the Russian climber.”

Gukov had run out of food three days before he was rescued with bad weather preventing helicopters from reaching the spot.