GRU doctor Alexander Mishkin was made a Hero of the Russian Federation for fighting in Ukraine's civil war.
And his proud gran kept a memento of the ceremony – showing the snap to friends in her remote village.
It meant that when reporters looking for Mishkin arrived at his home, locals were able to confirm that he was a high-level spy.
The revelation was made today by Bellingcat, the investigative website which yesterday revealed the real name of Mishkin – who used the alter ego "Alexander Petrov" when he travelled to Salisbury to try and kill ex-spy Sergei Skripal.
Christo Grosev of Bellingcat told a meeting in Parliament: "In the autumn of 2014, he became a Hero of the Russian Federation.
"It happened because of his activities in Crimea.
"So that makes two of them – that makes two Russian heroes."
Anatoliy Chepiga, the other GRU spy who carried out the novichok attack in Salisbury under the name Ruslan Boshirov, was also named a Hero of the Russian Federation by Putin.
Mishkin grew up in the tiny town of Loyga, 500 miles from Moscow, which has no proper roads leading to the rest of Russia.
Multiple residents told reporters from Bellingcat they knew Mishkin was a spy because his elderly grandmother had shown them the photo of him with Putin.
She treasures the snap so much she never lets anyone else hold it, sources in the village said.
Mishkin's gran has now disappeared in the wake of the probe into her grandson.
Mr Grosev said: "The moment we announced this press conference, the grandmother was asked to visit her children in a different town, so she vanished from her village three days ago."
Mishkin is a military doctor who specialises in treating submarine crew.
He has used the pseudonym of Petrov for nearly a decade and has worked for the GRU since he was at university.
Chepiga and Mishkin stayed at a budget hotel in East London before travelling to Salisbury and smearing deadly novichok poison on Skripal's doorknob.
The spy and his daughter Yulia were left gravely ill, while local woman Dawn Sturgess later died after handling the perfume bottle used to administer the toxin.
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