LAHORE: Translator Dr Najamus Sahar Butt has been conferred with Russia’s Pushkin Medal, a state decoration of the Federation.

Dr Butt was among the four foreign nationals conferred with the award on Nov 4 on the occasion of Russia’s National Unity Day by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, a press release stated.

Dr Butt has translated several Russian books into Urdu. This is first Russian state award for any Pakistani after establishment of the Russian Federation. During the Soviet Union era, poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz and legendary humanitarian Abdul Sattar Edhi were awarded the Lenin Prize.

Among the many books on Russian literature that Dr Butt translated were former Soviet general Makhmut Akhmetovich Gareyev’s Meri Akhri Jang: Afghanistan, Soviet Afwaaj kay Inkhila kay Baad (My Last War: Afghanistan after the exit of the Soviet Forces from Afghanistan) and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s biography Mard–i-Aahan.

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2017