The Russian President awarded the 32-year-old a medal of the order "for merit to the fatherland", a distinction given to Russians who have made outstanding achievement in their fields.

Karjakin, who challenged Magnus Carlsen for the world title in 2016, is an avid Putin supporter and is adamant in his support of the invasion.

"Many people ask if I regret my public support of the special operation?," Karjakin said at the time after he had been widely condemned.

"After all, I have already lost invitations to Western tournaments and may lose an invitation to the candidates tournament.

"My answer is simple.

"I am on the side of Russia and my President.

"No matter what happens, I will support my country in any situation without thinking for a second!"

His comments prompted FIDE to suspend him for six months for breaching its code of ethics.

He was born in Crimea and represented Ukraine until 2009, becoming the youngest grandmaster in history at 12 years and seven months, before switching allegiance to Russia.

Karjakin also publicly supported the Russian annexation of Crimea in 2014 saying, "I ally myself entirely with Russia because Crimea, as we know, has transferred to Russia," as reported by RFE/RL.

"I am actually extremely happy about this because I always considered myself Russian.

"I speak Russian, think in Russian, so I'm entirely a Russian person, and entirely support Russia as a state."