After a career crowned by a World Championship silver medal in 1969 alongside Alexei Mishin, Moskvina has excelled as a coach, leading at least one pair to an Olympic medal in six consecutive Winter Games from 1984 to 2002.

"You are rightly considered a wonderful athlete and a talented coach, strong-willed, purposeful and very active," said Putin in a telegram.

"Your brilliant performances in a duet with Alexei Mishin, fruitful mentoring, pedagogical activity are a significant contribution to the development of victorious traditions of the national school figure skating.

"It has helped strenghen the position of our country as a great sports power."

Born in Leningrad, Moskvina also won two European pairs medals as well as five Soviet national titles as a solo skater.

She retired in 1969.

It was as a coach she has most excelled, however, starting in the 1970s when she guided Irina Vorobieva and Alexander Vlassov to a 1977 world and European medal.

Other notable pairs having included Sarajevo 1984 Olympic champions Elena Valova and Oleg Vasiliev and Albertville 1992 winners Natalia Mishutenok and Arthur Dmitriev.

Oksana Kazakova and Artur Dmitriev also won the Nagono 1998 pairs title under her charge, as did Elene Berezhnaya abd Anton Sikharulidze in controversial fashion four years later in Salt Lake City amid a judging scandal. 

More recent success has been enjoyed with Yuko Kavaguti and Alexander Smirnov, the 2009 and 2010 world bronze medallists.