«For the defense of Mykolaiv»: another 15 defenders were awarded medals for the defense of the city in the first days of the war
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- Alisa Melik-Adamian
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15:30, 21 November, 2023
In Mykolaiv, on Tuesday, November 21, medals for the city's defense in the first days of the full-scale war were awarded to military personnel and members of their families.
15 military personnel were awarded with decorations, three of them received them posthumously, the correspondent of NikVesti reports.
The event began with a minute of silence in memory of the fallen soldiers. The awarding ceremony was opened by the mayor Oleksandr Sienkevych, noting that the award has two levels: the first is for military personnel personally involved in defense, and the second is for civilians who also contributed to the defense of the city.
Currently, it is not possible to award medals to all defenders of the city due to the security situation, which is why defenders are awarded gradually.
— Of course, there are a large number of people who can apply for this award. But we cannot collect them all. These are awards from Mykolaiv and the people of Mykolaiv for protecting the city and people. It is not known what role the defense played in the fact that the city was not occupied, like Kherson. People united, first of all, these are military personnel who defended Mykolaiv and prevented the Russian invaders from entering the city. I want to thank you all, thank the families of those who gave the most valuable thing for this — their lives. In fact, these words have become very familiar to us recently, but behind these words there is a great sorrow of people, families, parents and children. The future generation should be grateful and remember this feat, — said Oleksandr Sienkevych.
We remind you that in September the medal «For the defense of Mykolaiv» was presented. This award will be awarded to the defenders who took part in the defense of the city from the first days of the full-scale invasion. 7 Mykolaiv artists, sculptors and heraldists took part in the development of the award sketch. Among all proposals, a sketch by the sculptor Yaroslav Ryasnyanskyi was chosen.
The first to receive the ceremonial award was General Dmytro Marchenko, who led the defensive actions and coordinated the actions of the defenders in the most difficult moments of the battles.