You're reading: Poroshenko promises to honor two slain National guardsmen for courage

The two National Guard soldiers who were killed during riots outside the Verkhovna Rada building on Aug. 31 will be honored for their courage, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said.

“I have instructed the National Guard’s acting commander to submit the two Ukrainian heroes for the award. And today I will sign a decree conferring the For Courage orders to Ihor and Dmytro,” he told reporters after visiting injured law enforcement officers at the Central Hospital of the Interior Ministry in Kyiv on Sept. 1.

Everything needs to be done to ensure “such things do not happen again,” he said.

“I would like to apologize to parents for our failure to save their sons’ lives. I want to thank parents for having raised them and educated them as true Ukrainian heroes who protected the law and justice,” Poroshenko said.

It was reported that on Monday, Aug. 31, the Ukrainian parliament approved by 265 votes a presidential bill proposing power-decentralization changes to the country’s constitution, thus passing the bill through its first reading.

The vote prompted clashes outside the parliament between opponents of the bill and law enforcement officers. One national guardsman died on the same day, and another on Sept. 1.