Lieutenant Colonel Maxim Sholomov, who lost both arms, named Hero of Russia

Maxim Sholomov, a lieutenant colonel in the Russian army, was awarded the title Hero of the Russian Federation, the country's highest state distinction, in early 2023. Sources give slightly different dates for the presidential decree, so only the year is certain here.

According to Russian official and encyclopedic accounts, Sholomov was seriously wounded in combat in the Luhansk region, in eastern Ukraine, during Russia's war there. He lost both arms and spent about nine months in hospital and rehabilitation. Born in 1981 in Chebarkul, in Russia's Chelyabinsk region, he was a career officer.

After recovering, Sholomov stayed in the armed forces. He became a public figure in Russia, speaking to schoolchildren and at patriotic events, and state media regularly presented him as an example of a wounded serviceman who returned to duty. The award made him one of the best-known recipients of the Hero title in this war, which is why later news about his medical treatment, including a donor arm transplant, draws on this earlier story.