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Zelenskyy Honors Volunteers, Doctors, and Journalists on Fourth Anniversary of Full-Scale Invasion
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented state awards and the presidential Golden Heart distinction to Ukrainian volunteers, doctors, educators, scientists, cultural figures, athletes, and journalists, according to a presidential briefing note on March 4.
The meeting marked the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
Zelenskyy thanked the recipients for strengthening the Ukrainian army and society and for promoting Ukrainian culture.
“Ukraine has a long history of defending its identity and its right to be a people who decide for themselves how to live and who to be with in life,” he said.
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Zelenskyy warned that Russia “has not accepted our existence” and said Ukraine’s defense requires “daily strength,” “activity,” and “daily courage” from Ukrainians.
He handed posthumous Order of Merit, Third Class awards to relatives of volunteer and servicewoman Veronika Sokol, athlete Oleksii Khabarov, and coach Mykhailo Tsap.
Among those who received awards in person was Anatolii Zahorodnii, president of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, who received the Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, Fifth Class .
The same materials listed additional awardees, including volunteer and musician Ramil Nasirov and actress Anastasiia Pustovit. It also listed Takashi Hirano, a journalist and editor of Ukrinform’s Japanese-language news service.
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Ihor Tuluzov, head of the Kharkiv National Academic Opera and Ballet Theater, received the Order of Merit, Second Class, and Semen Kantor, director of the Odesa Museum of Modern Art, received the Order of Merit, Third Class.
Separately, the briefing note on the presidential Golden Heart distinction listed recipients, including volunteer and comedian Vasyl Baidak, volunteer Kateryna Bohadelnikova, volunteer Artem Voloshyn, volunteer Viktor Ivankov, volunteer Serhii Sternenko, tactical medicine manager Matvii Suslov, singer and charity founder Iryna Chovnyk (Fedyshyn), Victory Drones community coordinator Hanna Shkarupa, and Serhii Prytula Foundation procurement lead Anton Pyzhykov.
Earlier on, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy marked the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion on February 24 by honoring those killed and framing Ukraine’s survival as proof that Moscow’s early expectation that Kyiv would fall within days failed.
In his address, Zelenskyy said Ukrainians endure through the daily work of defenders, volunteers, and civilians, while insisting the country’s resolve remains intact: “Our eyes may be tired, but our backs are unbroken.”
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