Posthumously awarded Hero of the Soviet Union

On May 6, 1990, decades after her death and following the 1979 confirmation of her remains and combat fate, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev posthumously awarded Lydia Litvyak the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, the nation's highest distinction for individual gallantry, along with the Order of Lenin.

This recognition had been delayed for years partly due to the uncertainty surrounding her fate after she went missing in 1943; awarding the Hero of the Soviet Union title to someone officially classified as missing in action, rather than confirmed dead, was not standard practice, especially in the sensitive Cold War-era Soviet military bureaucracy, where any suspicion of capture and possible collaboration could disqualify a recipient. Only after Soviet search groups located and identified her remains near Dmitrievka in 1979 could officials proceed with the process of granting this honor.

The award was the culmination of a long campaign by fellow veterans, historians, and the Soviet search movement to honor Litvyak's extraordinary service, in which she was credited with becoming the highest-scoring female fighter ace in aviation history, with numerous confirmed kills achieved before her death at just 21 years old.

This posthumous recognition cemented Litvyak's legacy in Soviet and later Russian collective memory as the celebrated White Lily of Stalingrad, and it remains one of the most notable examples of a woman receiving her nation's top military honor for aerial combat service.