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Eight residents of Dagestan (a republic bordering Chechnya in the North Caucasus) were posthumously decorated for showing courage and self-sacrifice in the performance of their civic duty. They died on September 30, 2007.
On that day, six friends, the youngest just turned 17 and the oldest 21, saw on the outskirts of their village, Gonod, a suspicious car with armed men inside. They asked the strangers what had brought them to the village. The men in the car gave a vague answer and attempted to drive away from the village. The friends made a phone call to the local police officer and reported the suspicious men. They got in their own car and caught up with the men on the edge of the village. The police officer and a relative of one of the boys also hurried to the scene.
Together, they attempted to detain the armed men, who opened fire from an automatic weapon on the unarmed villagers.
But the villagers’ actions succeeded in thwarting the gunmen’s plans. Information suggests that the armed men planned to commit an act of terrorism in the village.
May 5, 2008