Ukrainian Rescuer Killed Saving Civilians Becomes First Civilian to Win UN Peacekeeping Medal

Ukrainian flight attendant and rescuer Serhii Prykhodko has been awarded the United Nations’ highest peacekeeping honor, becoming the first civilian in the organization’s history to receive such honor.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres presented the Captain Mbaye Diagne Medal for Exceptional Courage at a ceremony held in the UN headquarters in New York on Thursday.

The award was accepted on behalf of the hero’s wife, Tatiana, and his six-year-old daughter, Yelyzaveta.

Prykhodko was killed in March 2025, during an emergency UN evacuation mission in Ukraine. When the helicopter crew came under fire as civilians were boarding, he stepped between the passengers, shielding them from gunfire and receiving a fatal wound.

Despite the aircraft being severely damaged, his crewmates, Serhii Muzyka and Dymtro Teplykh, managed to take off, successfully evacuating eight people.

The Captain Mbaye Diagne Medal was established in 2014, and has since been reserved for military and police personnel serving in the UN peacekeeping operations. Prykhodko’s posthumous recognition marked the first time the award has been given to a civilian.

“No one should die while serving the cause of peace”, Guterres said, adding that “attacks on peacekeepers constitute a gross violation of international humanitarian law.”

Humanitarian crisis on the front lines

As of May, Ukraine estimates that more than 6,000 people, including around 200 children, urgently require humanitarian assistance. Many of those remaining are described as low-mobility individuals that are unable to evacuate on their own. 

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