Singer Zykina remembered in Moscow

MOSCOW, July 5 (UPI) -- Government and TV officials paid their final respects during the full military burial in Moscow for Russian singer Lyudmila Zykina, ITAR-TASS reports.

The Russian news agency said the military honors accorded Zykina Saturday at Moscow's Novodevichye cemetery represented a rare honor among Russian citizens.

The funeral, attended by Russian Culture Minister Alexander Avdeyev and State Duma Vice Speaker Lyudmila Slisk, featured a military orchestra, an honor guard and was punctuated with a volley of artillery fire.

The funeral came after Zykina, who died Wednesday of heart failure at the ago of 80, was honored with a ceremony at the Tchaikovsky concert hall and a funeral service at the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

ITAR-TASS said Zykina's final resting place resides near the graves of Russian President Boris Yeltsin, ballerina Galina Ulanova and musician Mstislav Rostropovich.