As, for example, The Moscow Times reports, Blaming Putin's Behavior, Dutch Literary Translator Refuses Pushkin Medal as Hans Boland (the name misspelled in this article) has declined the prestigious Медаль Пушкина, specifically because of the "threat to freedom and peace on our planet," that Vladimir Putin represents -- the man who would have pinned the medal on him at the November ceremony.
It'll be interesting to see whether other cultural or academic figures take similar stands in the coming months. The translators honored with the Read Russia prizes didn't when they got them last week -- see, for example, the report Прочитали Россию in Российская газета (since there's nothing at the official site yet, last I checked ...). (Lizok's Bookshelf has the winners in English in a comment in her post -- and will presumably follow up with a longer report/discussion in the days to come.)
It'll be interesting to see whether other cultural or academic figures take similar stands in the coming months. The translators honored with the Read Russia prizes didn't when they got them last week -- see, for example, the report Прочитали Россию in Российская газета (since there's nothing at the official site yet, last I checked ...). (Lizok's Bookshelf has the winners in English in a comment in her post -- and will presumably follow up with a longer report/discussion in the days to come.)