One of Russia's leading human rights campaigners, who resigned from her position as a rights advisor to President Dmitry Medvedev in July, is to be awarded state honors.

Medvedev signed a decree to grant Ella Pamfilova the Order of Honor, one of Russia's highest decorations, "for her longstanding productive government activity" on Monday.

Pamfilova stepped down from her position as chairman of the Russian Human Rights Council amid increasing pressure from Kremlin insiders and pro-government youth groups, including Nashi (Our People), set up when Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was president.

She frequently accused the government of becoming increasingly authoritarian, which, she said, made it dangerous to speak out about human rights violations.

The former secretary of Russia's Union of Journalists, Mikhail Fedotov, replaced her in October.

MOSCOW, November 22 (RIA Novosti)