President Volodymyr Zelensky honored 11 "outstanding individuals" with the National Legend of Ukraine state award, the presidential office said on Aug. 22.
The National Legend of Ukraine Award was introduced in 2021. The president grants it to Ukrainians and foreigners who have made a contribution to the establishment of independent Ukraine and the country's defense.
"This is respect. This is an honor. This is dignity. It is how the state of Ukraine says thank you to its people, its heroes, its legends," Zelensky said.
Among the awarded athletes were boxer Oleksandr Usyk and fencer Olga Kharlan, who became Ukraine's most decorated Olympian after securing a gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
The award went to painter, graphic artist, and monumentalist Oleksandr Dubovyk, as well as Ihor Poklad, a prominent Ukrainian composer and holder of the Hero of Ukraine title.
Zelensky also awarded one of the developers of Ukrainian Neptune missile, Oleh Korosteliov, and the "ideologist" behind the Sea Baby naval drones, Ivan "Hunter" Lukashevych.
The award was also given to surgeon Vitalii Khmel and Iryna Yurchenko, a conductor of the state-owned railway company Ukrzaliznytsia.
U.S. philanthropist Howard Buffett, who is said to be the largest private donor to Ukraine, is the only foreigner to receive the award this year.
Prominent Ukrainian folk singer Nina Matviyenko and Armenian-born film director Sergei Parajanov were awarded posthumously.
"Those among us and those we must appreciate. Those who, unfortunately, are no longer with us. We must remember them all — legends who inspire us, legends applauded by the world," Zelensky added.
Kateryna Denisova
