I Thank Every Single Person Who Fights for Ukraine – The President: Honored Warriors with the Highest State Awards

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President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has presented the highest state awards to Ukrainian warriors and handed the Orders of the Golden Star to the families of fallen Heroes.

"Every defender of Ukraine is indeed a defender of life. Everyone holding our positions on the frontline is, by doing so, protecting our entire state. And wherever our Ukrainian positions are truly strong, life always prevails. I want to thank every single person who fights for Ukraine, who fully carries out combat missions, destroys the occupier, protects their brothers and sisters-in-arms, and defends all our people. I thank all the families of our Heroes - for such sons and daughters," the President said.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for remembering everyone who gave their life so that Ukraine could endure. The participants honored the fallen Heroes with a moment of silence.

The Head of State handed the Orders of the Golden Star to the families of fallen Heroes of Ukraine. The highest distinction was conferred upon:

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Senior Soldier Aleksan Amirjanian. He carried out combat missions as part of assault groups in the Donetsk region. In August 2023, together with his brothers-in-arms, he engaged in a firefight with a superior enemy force, sustained a gunshot wound, but continued covering the group's retreat. At the cost of his own life, he saved two brothers-in-arms by ensuring their withdrawal from the battlefield.

Junior Sergeant Armen Ardukhanian. In 2023-2024, the squad under his command installed nearly 1,500 anti-tank and almost 300 anti-personnel mines in the Donetsk region, destroying over 30 units of enemy heavy equipment and more than 230 occupiers. On May 10, 2023, a group of Ukrainian warriors came under tank fire, during which Armen Ardukhanian was killed.

Junior Sergeant Oleksii Bielikov. Since March 2022, he defended Ukraine in the Donetsk region. Wounded in one of the battles, he returned to service before completing treatment. Under his leadership, the combat group captured 30 occupiers and eliminated 12 more. He also mined areas and repelled assaults in the Bakhmut direction. On June 10, 2023, Oleksii Bielikov died in a hospital from wounds sustained in battle.

Lieutenant Pavlo Bobrytskyi. In the Kharkiv region on June 5, 2022, the tank crew under his command destroyed enemy fortifications and 20 occupiers. However, after hitting a mine, the warriors were wounded. Pavlo Bobrytskyi evacuated the damaged tank and crew from the battlefield. He later returned, but during a maneuver, while covering infantry units, his tank was hit by an enemy anti-tank guided missile, killing Pavlo Bobrytskyi and the gunner.

Sergeant Petro Kanonik, combat medic. He was involved in the Anti-Terrorist Operation and battles in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions during Russia's full-scale invasion, provided first aid to the wounded, and helped evacuate them from the battlefield. In August 2024, near Toretsk, he was killed by a gunshot wound while covering his brothers-in-arms' withdrawal from an ambush.

Junior Sergeant Yevhen Mazko. He held positions near Mankivka in the Donetsk region for over a year, repelling numerous enemy assaults and destroying occupiers with small arms and machine guns. In one battle alone in winter 2024, he eliminated 16 occupiers. Despite being wounded, he continued defending his position. Yevhen Mazko was killed on September 24 last year during close combat with the enemy.

Colonel Maksym Ustymenko. He defended Ukraine since the Anti-Terrorist Operation, mastered four types of aircraft, and carried out 31 combat sorties. As an F-16 pilot, he destroyed dozens of enemy strongholds, UAV operator positions, bridges, crossings, and vehicles. On June 28 this year, while repelling another combined Russian attack, Maksym Ustymenko shot down seven air targets. However, his aircraft was damaged and began losing altitude. Maksym Ustymenko steered it away from a village in the Kyiv region but did not have time to eject.

Soldier Vitalii Patsalovskyi. In 2023-2024, he defended Ukraine in the Avdiivka and Pokrovsk directions, repelling over 50 enemy assaults, eliminating more than 40 occupiers, and wounding nearly as many. During the defense of Avdiivka, he established a firing position in a multi-story building, covering Ukrainian units. On May 9, 2024, while repelling an enemy assault, he sustained fatal wounds.

The President personally presented the Golden Stars of the Hero of Ukraine to three defenders. Among them:

Soldier Serhii Osypchuk. He fought in battles in the Kursk region, eliminated over 15 occupiers, engaged in direct firefights, and forced the enemy to retreat. Despite a gunshot wound, he refused to abandon his position and continued his mission. Serhii Osypchuk held the defense for 47 consecutive days.

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Senior Lieutenant Yehor Sydorenko. He took part in numerous reconnaissance and offensive operations to capture enemy positions and destroy infantry and vehicles (IFVs, Tigrs, BM-21 Grads) near Pokrovsk, Pishchane, and Kotlyne in the Donetsk region. Under his command, about 200 occupiers and around ten armored vehicles were destroyed. He repeatedly saved the lives of brothers-in-arms by pulling wounded warriors from under machine-gun fire, from a burning vehicle, and from the battlefield, and moving them to a safe location.

Senior Lieutenant Oleksandr Shpak. He repeatedly took part in reconnaissance and assault missions in the Donetsk and Sumy regions. The group under his command destroyed about 200 occupiers, fifteen armored vehicles, a T-72 tank, and an anti-aircraft gun. Risking his life, he rescued two warriors trapped under a collapsed dugout during mortar fire.

In addition, the President presented defenders with the Cross of Military Merit honors. The award was conferred upon:

Senior Soldier Denys Aksyonov. Since February 2023, he has participated in repelling Russian aggression. In battles in the Donbas and Kursk regions, he eliminated about 30 occupiers, directed fire assets, and assisted wounded brothers-in-arms. In January, near Vasyukivka in the Donetsk region, he destroyed an MT-LB and enemy infantry with a Stugna ATGM.

Junior Sergeant Ivan Basiuk. Since July 2024, he has carried out combat missions in the Pokrovsk direction. In April 2025, Junior Sergeant personally eliminated 15 occupiers, an IFV, an enemy motorcycle, a car, and a military buggy with infantry.

Senior Sergeant Dmytro Bludchyi. In 2023, he held positions near Klishchiivka to prevent encirclement, carried out assault operations near the Siverskyi Donets-Donbas canal, destroyed the enemy in close combat, and conducted mine-clearing on logistical routes. In 2024, he disrupted preparations for Russian assaults in the Donetsk region.

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Sergeant Nikita Karpov (NGU). Last year, near Niu-York in the Donetsk region, he sustained a shrapnel eye injury from an enemy shell explosion. After treatment, he returned to service and carried out missions in the Toretsk direction. This winter, he organized the evacuation of wounded fighters from an adjacent unit. On January 16, he personally eliminated five occupiers. Together with his unit, he maintained an all-around defense under extremely difficult conditions of constant enemy attacks for twelve days.

Colonel Valerii Koltsov. He participated in the defense of Kyiv and the Kyiv region, the liberation of the Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, and Donetsk regions, and in the battles for Bakhmut. In December 2022, he sustained a severe wound but returned to the frontline six months later. Since June 2023, the unit of Valerii Koltsov has eliminated nearly 40 occupiers, wounded more than 80, and destroyed nine enemy vehicles, Russian field ammunition depots, dugouts, and firing positions.

Lieutenant Colonel Pavlo Kryvonosov. He carried out combat missions in the Kursk and Donetsk regions. The unit under Pavlo Kryvonosov's command conducted assault operations in the Donetsk region, eliminating and wounding over 70 occupiers, capturing 22 Russian servicemen, and destroying three armored vehicles.

Senior Sergeant Valerii Saltykov, reconnaissance radio operator. He took part in the liberation of the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions from Russian invaders and later fought in the Kupyansk and Lyman directions. The crews of attack UAVs under his command continuously conduct frontline reconnaissance and target enemy manpower and equipment. In May and July this year alone, in the Zaporizhzhia region, they destroyed ten enemy vehicles and about fifty soldiers.

The President also presented defenders with the Orders of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, III class, and the Order "For Courage," III class.