Strength in courage. Ukrainska Pravda announces the winners of its annual awards
When love and faith conquer fear, courage is born. The word "courage" has taken on a new significance during the full-scale war. It is now embodied by millions of Ukrainians.
It would be impossible to tell the stories of all the brave people in Ukraine, but here at Ukrainska Pravda, we strive every day to ensure their faces are known to the world. One way we can express our gratitude to them is through the Ukrainska Pravda Awards, established in 2020. On 18 December, Ukrainska Pravda presented its awards for the fifth time, with some of the winners, sadly, being recognised posthumously.
But their names and faces - along with those still fighting - have already become part of Ukraine's wartime history.
Advertisement:Here we introduce the recipients of this year's awards.
Civic Spirit
Maksym Butkevych
Maksym ButkevychPhoto: Andrii Kalistratenko, Ukrainska Pravda
Maksym Butkevych is a journalist, co-founder of Hromadske Radio and the ZMINA Human Rights Centre, and coordinator of the No Borders project. A human rights activist, he fought for the rights of internally displaced persons, refugees and political prisoners of the Kremlin before dedicating himself to defending Ukraine. He joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the onset of the full-scale invasion.
In June 2022 Maksym was captured by Russian forces in Myrna Dolyna, a village in Luhansk Oblast. He was accused of "ill-treating civilians and using prohibited methods in armed conflict", and in September 2023, a Russian court in occupied Luhansk Oblast illegally sentenced him to 13 years in prison. However, the following year, a long-awaited prisoner swap took place, and he was released from Russian captivity.
Iryna Tsybukh (posthumously)
Iryna TsybukhPhoto: Andrii Kalistratenko, Ukrainska Pravda
Iryna "Cheka" Tsybukh was a paramedic and an active civic advocate.
Tragically, she was killed in action during a rotation on the Kharkiv front on 29 May 2024, just days before her 26th birthday. Iryna first enlisted in 2014, serving with the Hospitallers volunteer battalion. After several rotations, she returned to civilian life and worked as a restructuring manager at the Ukrainian public broadcaster Suspilne.
When the full-scale invasion began, Iryna was in eastern Ukraine presenting her documentary about educationally disadvantaged children from remote villages in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts. Instead of returning home, she joined the Hospitallers, spending over two years saving the lives of Ukrainian soldiers.
Read more: An interview with Iryna "Cheka" Tsybukh, combat medic, 1998-2024
Journalist of the Year
The Bihus.Info team
Bihus.Info.Photo: Andrii Kalistratenko, Ukrainska Pravda
Bihus.Info, founded by Denys Bihus, is one of the most trusted investigative journalism projects in Ukraine. Bihus's team has conducted numerous investigations into corruption within the inner circle of former President Petro Poroshenko and has published reports exposing the enrichment of MPs and the business interests of the President's Office leadership.
A Bihus.Info investigation into the illegal installation of hidden cameras and bugging of Bihus.Info journalists by the Security Service of Ukraine sent shock waves around the country. It was revealed that members of the editorial team had been under surveillance for about a year. Bihus.info journalists conducted their own investigation and discovered how the surveillance operation had been organised.
Viktoriia Roshchyna
Viktoriia RoshchynaPhoto: Andrii Kalistratenko, Ukrainska Pravda
In early autumn this year, journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna was preparing for her release from Russian captivity. But that day never came.
Her father later received a letter from the Russian Ministry of Defence notifying him of her death. Viktoriia had been a voice for people from the occupied territories since 2022.
Read more: Journalist Viktoriia Roshchyna killed in captivity: a tribute through seven of her best articles The Russians detained Viktoriia for the first time in March 2022, and she spent ten days in captivity.
At the end of July 2023, Viktoriia travelled to Poland with plans to enter the occupied territories in eastern Ukraine via Russia. On 3 August, she went missing. It wasn't until the end of May 2024 that the Russian Federation finally admitted to detaining the journalist. On 10 October, it was officially announced that Viktoriia Roshchyna had died in captivity.
Preparations for her return to Ukraine had been underway and she had been due to be transferred to Lefortovo prison in Moscow, but on 19 September, her young life was brutally cut short. The Russians have still not released her body for repatriation.
Volunteer of the Year
Serhii Sternenko
Serhii SternenkoPhoto: Andrii Kalistratenko, Ukrainska Pravda
Serhii Sternenko is a public activist and volunteer and one of the most popular Ukrainian-speaking bloggers. Before 24 February 2022, Serhii was known for his public activism, particularly his participation in anti-corruption campaigns and protests. Since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine began, Serhii has raised over a billion hryvnias for the Ukrainian army.
His fundraising has helped deliver medical equipment, hundreds of vehicles and radios, and more than 120,000 FPV drones to Ukraine's defence forces.
Artist/Creative of the Year
Ivan Uryvskyi
Ivan UryvskyiPhoto: Andrii Kalistratenko, Ukrainska Pravda
Theatre director Ivan Uryvskyi breathes new life into Ukrainian classics. He took The Witch of Konotop, a nearly 200-year-old tale by Hryhorii Kvitka-Osnovianenko, and turned it into a wartime box-office hit at Kyiv's Ivan Franko National Academic Drama Theatre. His adaptation of Ivan Karpenko-Karyi's play The Master played to packed houses at the Theatre on Podil.
Ivan's production of Zemlia (Land), a play based on a novel by Olha Kobylianska, was performed in Kaunas, Lithuania, and he directed Mykola Leontovych's opera On the Water Nymph's Easter at the Kyiv National Academic Operetta Theatre.
Social Project of the Year
Memorial
Photo: Andrii Kalistratenko, Ukrainska Pravda
Memorial is a non-governmental, non-profit platform that was founded in 2022 by the Abo Local Media Development Agency to keep the memory of fallen Ukrainians alive and to ensure that the world sees the faces of the Ukrainians killed by Russia.
Read more: "They had no weapons, nothing." The stories of seven men who were killed by Russian invaders in Peremoha As of April 2024, the platform has published 6,600 verified stories of Ukrainians killed in the Russian full-scale war. More than half of the stories have been about civilians.
In addition, Memorial has produced 15 documentaries about fallen soldiers and civilians. It also holds themed exhibitions in Ukraine and abroad, telling the stories of children killed by Russia.
Read more: "He did not survive the torture". Eight Ukrainian soldiers who died in Russian captivity remembered
Read more: Six executions.
Stories of civilians killed by Russian military in Dmytrivka community in Chernihiv Oblast The winners in the following two categories were chosen by members of the Ukrainska Pravda Club.
Innovator of the Year
Oleksandr Konotopskyi
Oleksandr KonotopskyiPhoto: Andrii Kalistratenko, Ukrainska Pravda
Oleksandr Konotopskyi is the founder of Ajax Systems, a company that creates security systems. Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it has provided security for not just homes, but also entire cities.
In 2023, the company launched the Air Alert app, which has been downloaded more than 24 million times. In 2024, Ajax Systems won a prestigious Red Dot Design Award for its LightSwitch smart light control system, WaterStop and LeaksProtect anti-flood systems, and KeyPad TouchScreen, a user-friendly keypad for controlling security and automation devices.
Inspiration of the Year
Yaroslava Hres
Yaroslava HresPhoto: Andrii Kalistratenko, Ukrainska Pravda
In 2022, Yaroslava Hres became the coordinator of UNITED24, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's global initiative in support of Ukraine. Yaroslava has coordinated the work of the fundraising platform, which has raised over US£650 million in donations for Ukraine.
Under Yaroslava's leadership, the team has gained the support of 26 ambassadors and more than 200 world-famous stars, including Robert De Niro, Catherine Deneuve, Imagine Dragons, Emma Thompson, Viggo Mortensen, Hilary Swank, Stephen Fry, Pierre Richard and Mark Strong. During the two years that Yaroslava has been leading UNITED24, it became one of the Most Effective Brands in Europe according to the Effie Index 2023.
UP Hero
Nazarii Hryntsevych (posthumously)
Nazarii HryntsevychPhoto: Andrii Kalistratenko, Ukrainska Pravda
Nazarii "Hrinka" Hryntsevych was one of the youngest defenders of Mariupol, a football fanatic, and an officer of the National Guard of Ukraine in the Azov Regiment. He was a warrior whose courage and dedication to principles were awe-inspiring.
Nazarii joined Azov as soon as he turned 18 and defended Mariupol right from the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. He celebrated his 19th birthday at the Azovstal steelworks, his only birthday treats ascorbic acid and energy drinks. In May 2022, Nazarii and his brothers-in-arms left Azovstal on the orders of the military leadership, and he was taken prisoner.
Nazarii returned from captivity on 21 September 2022 and continued to fight despite the torture he had endured. Nazarii was killed in action on 7 May 2024, a few weeks after his 21st birthday. In honour of Nazarii's memory, Ukrainska Pravda has chosen him as this year's UP Hero.
Diana Krechetova, Dariia Poperechna, Kateryna Dorosh (Khoroshchak), Olena Barsukova, Alona Pavliuk, Viktoriia Andrieieva, Anastasiia Mosorko and Tetiana Pushnova contributed to this article.
Translation: Artem Yakymyshyn, Yuliia Kravchenko
Editing: Teresa Pearce