Russian President Vladimir Putin awards Poklonskaya rank of Major General

© Sputnik/ Yuriy Lashov
Natalia Poklonskaya, Crimea, Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded Crimea's Prosecutor General Natalia Poklonskaya with the rank of Judicial Counsellor 3 Class, according to a document.

This military rank is similar to that of Major General. Previously, Poklonskaya served as a Senior Counsellor of Justice, which is equivalent to the rank of colonel.

During the Euromaidan, Poklonskaya handed in her resignation from the Ukrainian General Directorate of Internal Affairs in Kiev on February 25, 2014. In the document, she wrote that she was "ashamed to live in a country where neo-fascists freely walk about the streets."

She left Kiev for Crimea and in March 2014, she was appointed Prosecutor of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. Poklonskaya was appointed to the position after it had been reportedly turned down by four male candidates.

© Sputnik/ Konstantin Mihalchevsky
Natalia Poklonskaya, Crimea, Russia

Poklonskaya was appointed as the Prosecutor of Crimea in March 2014, after the peninsula had voted on a referendum to rejoin Russia.

Natalia Poklonskaya, who became one of the symbols of the so-called "Russian spring" in Crimea, celebrated her 35th birthday on March 18.