On the eve of the third anniversary of the full-scale Russian invasion, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with defenders and families of the fallen warriors.
The Head of State presented the "Golden Stars" of the Hero of Ukraine, the "Cross of Military Merit" distinctions, other state awards, battle flags, and "For Courage and Bravery" insignias to military units. Volodymyr Zelensky also handed over 13 apartment certificates to the Heroes of Ukraine and the families of the fallen Heroes.
“We must do absolutely everything possible and impossible to achieve a real peace with security guarantees for our state, with guarantees of dignity and respect for all our children, for everyone who lives and has lived in Ukraine. And with great respect for all those who gave their lives,” the President said.
The Head of State thanked all Ukrainian warriors and their families for keeping Ukraine alive. The participants honored the memory of the fallen defenders with a minute of silence.
The President awarded the families of the fallen Heroes of Ukraine with the Orders of the Golden Star. The highest state award was conferred to:
Lieutenant Oleksandr Borshuliak. The group under his command repeatedly provided safe passages through minefields and engineering obstacles, which enabled capturing the enemy positions and taking the Russian occupiers prisoner. In July 2023, the unit came under fire, but despite this, Oleksandr Borshuliak continued to carry out his mission. Thanks to this, our warriors were able to take up more favorable positions for further advancement.
Sergeant Bohdan Hrymashevych. Despite being under constant artillery fire, he successfully pushed the enemy out of their positions and advanced 2 km. He captured nine Russian invaders. During an enemy counterattack, he held the line and remained in position until the end, continuing to destroy the invaders with a hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher.
Junior Sergeant Oleh Ruban. In March 2023, under constant artillery fire, he led his group to a combat position without losses and effectively organized the defense. Oleh Ruban timely detected a concealed attack and organized a counteroffensive, but was killed during the battle by a sniper’s bullet.
Junior Sergeant Vladyslav Bombela. Since 2022, he had been carrying out combat missions as part of a special forces group. He downed two Russian Su-34 aircraft and, during the defense of Avdiivka, eliminated several dozen invaders. He also provided assistance to wounded brothers-in-arms and organized their evacuation. Since April of the previous year, he had been performing combat tasks near Chasiv Yar and Toretsk. Vladyslav Bombela was killed on July 11 as a result of an airstrike.
Soldier Andrii Demchyk. Last May, during the construction of fortifications at the position, two Ukrainian warriors were severely wounded by an ammunition drop. He provided them with assistance and organized their evacuation. Afterward, Russian invaders struck with an FPV drone, which flew into a hole of an unfinished bunker where three Ukrainian defenders remained. Andrii Demchyk lunged at the drone and covered it with his body.
The President also awarded the "Golden Star" of the Hero of Ukraine to the warriors of the Armed Forces, National Guard, Border Guard Service, and the Security Service of Ukraine. The following warriors were honored with this title:
Junior Lieutenant Tengiz Berdzenishvili. In April 2023, while leading a special forces group and a mortar crew, he repelled an assault on positions near Avdiivka and, under extremely challenging conditions, ensured their defense. Under his command, the units successfully destroyed, among other things, rocket launchers and tanks near Krasnohorivka and Robotyne.
Junior Sergeant Fedir Kiselar. From the first days of the full-scale Russian invasion, he defended the Sumy region. He participated in the liberation of Trostyanets. In September 2023, he initiated the creation of a UAS unit for remote mining and the destruction of engineering structures. Under his command, for the first time, TМ-62 mines were used to remotely mine a 7 km stretch of the Bakhmut – Kostyantynivka road. Last May, during the evacuation of an injured brother-in-arms, he sustained severe mine-explosive injuries, resulting in the amputation of his leg.
Soldier Oleksandr Fedorovskyi (National Guard of Ukraine). He personally eliminated about 40 Russian occupiers in the Zaporizhzhia and Donetsk regions. Last April, together with his unit commander, he prevented a breach of positions and, risking his life, destroyed an enemy assault group.
Retired Senior Soldier Ivan Kryvalchuk (State Border Guard Service of Ukraine). He led a group carrying out combat tasks at a position where continuous battles were taking place. He helped evacuate wounded brothers-in-arms from a critical fire point. He destroyed several enemy combat groups and captured an enemy radio. This facilitated the orientation and successful completion of the evacuation. During this battle, he sustained severe injuries.
Captain Karen Shakhbazian (Security Service of Ukraine). He conducted aerial reconnaissance in the Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia regions. In difficult combat conditions, the UAV crew destroyed and damaged several surface-to-air missile systems, anti-aircraft missile and gun systems, a self-propelled artillery unit, and an automated jamming station.
In addition, Volodymyr Zelenskyy awarded the Crosses of Military Merit to six defenders. The recipients were:
Major Robert Brovdi. Commander of the 414th Separate Brigade of Unmanned Systems. He pioneered the use of octocopters for mining operations. During combat missions, his units destroyed and damaged several thousand ground targets and drones. In January of this year alone, they carried out over 16,000 combat sorties and hit over 4,500 targets.
Junior Sergeant Kyrylo Voina. Over the course of one month, he made 60 crossings of the Dnipro River in the Kherson direction. Near the village of Krynky, on a boat damaged by shelling, he evacuated eight wounded warriors from the left bank to the right. Last April, he saved the lives of three wounded fighters while maneuvering a boat under fire from Russian occupiers. He suffered a mine blast injury but continued to carry out his mission.
Senior Lieutenant Ivan Kozin. He led an IFV column that breached several rows of minefields on the territory of the Russian Federation and destroyed two armored vehicles. This created conditions for the main forces of the battalion to advance. He organized the encirclement of an enemy garrison, which was successfully stormed by his company: two mortar teams were destroyed, 15 Russian soldiers were killed, and another 10 were taken prisoner.
Soldier Denys Reshetnikov. In the Donetsk direction in February 2024, he eliminated five occupiers, recaptured a lost position, and took a Russian soldier prisoner. In March, with a shot from a Javelin, he stopped the advance of a column. In July, near Krasnohorivka, together with two brothers-in-arms, he repelled an assault for five hours, destroying four occupiers and wounding three others. During the battle, Denys Reshetnikov was wounded.
Major Vitalii Kovalchuk (National Guard of Ukraine). He planned approximately 20 operations to repel enemy assaults and 14 counteroffensive operations on enemy positions. He facilitated the evacuation of 10 families from areas under shelling. He planned actions that enabled the Guardsmen to destroy about 15 enemy tanks, 15 armored vehicles, five trucks, and nearly a platoon of infantry.
The President awarded battle flags to the 23rd Separate Mechanized Brigade, the 115th Separate Mechanized Brigade, and the 118th Separate Mechanized Brigade, as well as the insignias “For Courage and Bravery” to the 63rd Separate Mechanized Brigade, the 15th Separate Artillery Reconnaissance Brigade “Black Forest,” the 2nd Separate Halytska Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine, the 27th Regiment of the National Guard of Ukraine, and the 17th Border Guard Detachment named after Colonel Oleksandr Zhukovsky of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.
