President Volodymyr Zelensky honored soldiers, medics, energy workers and other civilians with state awards on Ukrainian Statehood Day, personally presenting the Order of the “Golden Star” to the mother of a fallen Hero of Ukraine who received the title posthumously.
Zelensky announced the ceremony in a statement on Wednesday, listing former Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister and Energy Minister Denys Shmyhal, French Ambassador to Ukraine Gaël Veyssière, historian Natalia Yakovenko, writer and serviceman Illarion Pavliuk, and publisher Anton Martynov among those decorated.
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“On the occasion of Ukrainian Statehood Day, I honored our people whose work helps Ukraine hold its ground and preserve our independence,” Zelensky said, adding that “Ukraine stands on the people who defend, rescue, rebuild, and work for it every day.”
Passports for 10 young Ukrainians
Zelensky also personally handed out Ukrainian passports to 10 young citizens, including children of fallen and captured defenders as well as winners of sports competitions.
The gesture is part of a broader effort by Kyiv to formally recognize young people affected by the war and those representing Ukraine on the international stage.
Most recently, 200 children of servicemen, police officers and rescuers from the Kharkiv region took part in this year’s “Carpathian Change” on July 9, a recovery project initiated by Zelensky to help children from frontline regions recover in a safe environment. The program combines rest, psychological support, and sports to ease the trauma of war.
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Awards span military and civilian sectors
The list of honorees reflects the range of roles Zelensky credited with sustaining the country through Russia’s ongoing invasion, spanning frontline soldiers, medical workers and energy sector employees who have kept critical infrastructure running while facing the dangers of ongoing Russian strikes.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk reported Russian drones have repeatedly struck marked humanitarian vehicles and facilities throughout the war. That risk has grown increasingly visible in recent month. In May, drones targeted vehicles operated by the humanitarian organization World Central Kitchen and the United Nations (UN) while they were delivering aid in Kherson, killing a local resident and damaging an armored aid vehicle.
Most recently, Russian armed forces struck a Red Cross humanitarian warehouse in Kyiv, wiping out 320,000 relief items worth more than Hr.79 million ($1,764,719), damaging emergency supplies meant for hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people, as well as a delivery vehicle.
In a separate attack, Russian forces struck civilian and humanitarian infrastructure on Saturday, June 6, striking two rescue boats in the Black Sea and a café in the Zaporizhzhia region while they were executing a humanitarian mission within Ukraine’s maritime corridor.
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