the bodies of three of them were unearthed at the nearby village of Tangi-Chu two months later. In an infamous incident later in March, a local girl, Elza Kungayeva, was abducted from her home in Tangi-Chu, then raped and strangled to death by Russian Ground Forces Colonel Yuri Budanov. Aftermath Later, it was seen as a glorious last stand by the paratroopers, confirming the VDV's reputation in the same way that the Battle of Camarón did for the French Foreign Legion, and the events have been quickly enshrined in heroic myth. Even though some in the Russian army view it as a defeat that could have been avoided, it is officially seen in Russia as an example of bravery and sacrifice. In 2001, Putin flew to Chechnya to visit the former battlefield. In 2008, a day before Russia's Defender of the Fatherland Day, a street in Grozny was officially renamed as "84 Pskov Paratroopers Street", a move that sparked further controversy in Chechnya. Awards On 12 March 2000, President Putin signed an ukaz conferring Russian state awards upon participants of the battle. 63 soldiers received the Order of Courage and 22 (all 13 officers and nine enlisted men) were awarded the country's highest honorary medal and title of the Hero of the Russian Federation. In comparison, only 65 medals of the Hero of the Soviet Union medal were awarded for the entire duration of the 10-year Soviet intervention in Afghanistan. Hero of the Russian Federation recipients for this incident are: Guard Lt. Colonel Mark Yevtyukhin Guard Major Sergey Molodov Guard Major Alexander Dostavalov Guard Captain Roman Sokolov Guard Captain Viktor Romanov Guard Lieutenant Alexey Vorobyov Guard Lieutenant Andrey Sherstyannikov Guard Lieutenant Andrey Panov Guard Lieutenant Dmitry Petrov Guard Lieutenant Alexander Kolgatin Lieutenant Oleg Yermakov Lieutenant Alexander Ryazantsev Lieutenant Dmitry Kozhemyakin Guard Sergeant (contract service) Sergey Medvedev Guard Sergeant (contract service) Alexander Komyagin Guard Sergeant (contract service) Dmitry Grigoriyev Guard Sergeant Sergey Vasilyov Guard Sergeant Vladislav Dukhin Guard Corporal (contract service) Alexander Lebedev Guard Corporal Alexander Gerdt Guard Private Alexey Rasskaza Guard Sergeant Alexander Suponinsky (survivor, interview in Russian) In popular culture A series of Russian productions loosely based on these events were produced in the years after the battle, including a 2004 theatrical musical show, the 2004 television series Chest imeyu ("I Have the Honour"), the 2006 four-part television film Grozovye vorota ("The Storm Gate") and the 2006 movie Proriv