Regular Kyiv Post contributor, Pete Shmigel, was last week recognized with an “Amber Heart” award by Ukraine’s Ministry for Foreign Affairs.
The award, the first of its kind issued in Australia, was presented to Shmigel by Ukraine’s Ambassador to Australia and New Zealand, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, at a ceremony at New South Wales State Parliament on Feb. 12.
In addition to his participation in Ukrainian pro-independence affairs since the 1980s, the award was made for Shmigel’s service as an Australian journalist writing for Kyiv Post since 2022, as a contributor to all of Australia’s major newspapers, as the author of “The Drone,” a fictionalized account of Ukrainians’ war experiences, and as a strategic advisor to Ambassador Myroshnychenko.
Myroshnychenko said that while Shmigel had contributed to Ukraine’s cause over his entire adult life, he had been especially instrumental in Ukraine’s advocacy work in Australia during the course of the full-scale war. That includes helping Australian military and humanitarian support for Ukraine.
Shmigel told the Parliament House gathering that “like other writers and journalists, I feel I can make a contribution to Ukraine’s war effort by recording and reporting the stories of honorable and heroic Ukrainians.”
“Stories are spiritual steel. They are not easily bent or broken. As long as a nation has its stories, that nation remains fundamentally undefeated,” Shmigel said.
Shmigel has contributed some 300 news articles and opinion essays to Kyiv Post, including from field locations across Ukraine.