On International Volunteer Day, Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree awarding the Golden Heart Presidential honor to 45 volunteers.
Recipients included the following representatives of the volunteer movement:
Volunteer Vasyl Baidak. He organized numerous charity concerts and tours, directing 100% of proceeds to the army; systematically engages audiences via social media to raise funds; purchases drones, thermal imagers, medical supplies, first-aid kits, tactical equipment, and communications devices.
Volunteer and Director of the LLC Rehabilitation Center Mercy&Health, Kateryna Bohadelnikova. She initiated the opening of five rehabilitation centers for military personnel and civilians. She equips military units and medical departments with specialized equipment. She also delivered 95 fully equipped mobile ICUs and organizes support activities for families of defenders.
Volunteer and member of the NGO Veterans of Military Counterintelligence of Ukraine, Oleksandra Borysova. She supports military and medical institutions; provides tactical gear, medical supplies, and food; and organizes fundraising for military needs.
Volunteer of the Charitable Foundation Pravota, Artem Voloshyn. He used personal funds to purchase and deliver 12 off-road vehicles, 25 Mavic 3 Pro drones, 15 Commandos 1000W charging stations, and hundreds of other equipment items. Alongside his team, he provided assistance to the military worth over UAH 500 million and to civilians worth over UAH 1 billion.
Volunteer of the NGO Aerial Reconnaissance Support Center, Valeria Hrachova. Since April 2024, she has been teaching military personnel as part of the Victory Drones project, providing training for drone operators and basic military skills.
Co-founder of the Charitable Foundation Splav, Oleksii Datsenko. He organizes fundraisers for the military and mental health support events; launched free legal support for defenders’ families; donated two personal vehicles to the Armed Forces of Ukraine; and supports the project Path of Champions.
Volunteer of the NGO Rebel Volunteers, Khrystyna Dmytrychenko. She participates in meeting the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine: procurement and delivery of vehicles, electronic warfare systems, tactical medical supplies, drones of various types, Starlinks, and power stations; coordinates the repair of military equipment. She is a co-organizer of numerous civic and social initiatives in Mykolaiv.
Volunteer and co-founder of the NGO Unity and Assistance, Olha Dombrovska. Since 2014, she has assisted military hospitals and wounded veterans, including arranging treatment, rehabilitation, and prosthetics abroad. She volunteered for military service at the start of the full-scale war, served as a combat medic, and returned to volunteering after demobilization this year.
Volunteer of the Charitable Foundation Real Ukrainians, Anna Donets. She organized fundraising concerts for military needs, enabling the purchase of a modern strike drone complex Bomber, three vehicles, and several quadcopters.
Volunteer, Abbot of the Holy Dormition Univ Lavra of the Studite Rule of the UGCC 2010–2024, Mykola (Makariy) Dutka. At the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, he provided free accommodation for over 100 internally displaced persons; supports military brigades with drones, electronic warfare systems, vehicles, and medical supplies; cares for servicemembers who lost limbs and cooperates with the Superhumans rehabilitation center.
Head of the NGO Headquarters of Mothers and Families of Soldiers of Ukraine, Emiliia Yevsieieva. Since the start of the full-scale war, she organized the collection and delivery of clothing, medical supplies, tools, materials for fortifications, and food; later added vehicles, Starlinks, drones, anti-drone systems, body armor, and thermal imagers. She regularly travels to areas near the combat zone.
Volunteer, Director of the Charitable Organization Charity Fund Source of Revival (CFSR), Serhii Zhuk. He participated in the evacuation of over 8,000 people and delivered around 60 tons of medical supplies; more than 40,000 Ukrainians received humanitarian aid.
Volunteer, Director of the Charitable Organization Charity Fund It For Victory, Viktor Ivankov. He has been actively volunteering since 2014; provided equipment to over 80 military units, donated 200 pieces of equipment, around 400 drones, more than 300 radio stations, and funded the development of new medium- and long-range strike UAVs.
Volunteer Halyna Kravets. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, she has organized collections and delivery of humanitarian aid for the military, IDPs, and children. She also coordinates the preparation and delivery of food to servicemembers; she organized a volunteer center for producing camouflage nets, trench candles, protective charms, drawings, and postcards to boost warriors’ morale.
Volunteer of the Charitable Organization Charity Fund Combat Volunteer of Ukraine, Tetiana Krytiuk. She provides humanitarian aid to civilians and the military, assists the homeless, IDPs, and persons with disabilities; supports orphanages and boarding schools; and organizes help for victims in Kyiv during missile and drone attacks.
Volunteer Olena Kuzmishkina. She has actively assisted families of deceased or missing defenders since 2016; helped create centers to aid IDPs with children; and coordinates volunteer and civic initiatives that have assisted thousands of families in the Dnipro region.
Volunteer and co-founder of the Charitable Foundation FAINE.UA, Yurii Kulyk. He implements social and humanitarian initiatives, including summer camps for children of Ukrainian defenders; in 2022, under his leadership, the foundation provided over UAH 39 million in assistance.
Secretary of the Supervisory Board of the NGO Heart of Azovstal, Tetiana Kukhotska. She develops support programs for defenders released from captivity, their families, and veterans; she informs the world about Russian war crimes and conditions of Ukrainian POWs.
Head of the NGO Zmist Poltava, Alisa Kutsenko. Through her efforts, over UAH 20 million was raised for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, enabling the purchase of 45 quadcopters, 12 FPV drones, 14 vehicles, three thermal imagers, four electronic warfare devices, and other equipment.
Volunteer, co-founder of the NGO Angel Wings, Roksana Leshchenko. Over 1,000 families under her organization’s care receive legal, psychological, and humanitarian assistance; she provides military units with medical supplies, gear, uniforms, equipment, machinery, and camouflage nets.
Volunteer and lawyer of the NGO People’s Self-Defense of Lviv Region, Marta Lihus. From the first days of the full-scale invasion, she organized and coordinated the receipt and distribution of over 3,000 humanitarian shipments; supplied medical equipment, food, gear, generators, and transport to military and civilians.
Volunteer of the NGO STRONG BECAUSE FREE, Pavlo Matviiets (posthumously). He assisted residents of the Kherson region, travelled to villages in frontline areas delivering humanitarian aid, cleared rubble, removed construction debris, and helped restore buildings after shelling. He was killed on January 1 this year during an enemy attack while helping victims.
Volunteer and member of the local unit of the NGO Union of Armenians of Ukraine in Kirovohrad Region, Sirvard Mnoian. She participates in charitable initiatives supporting the Armed Forces; provides free meals for military personnel and IDPs from her café in Smoline, Kirovohrad region.
Volunteer coordinator of the Sovereign Order of Malta in Canada, Justin Morin-Carpentier. He participates in humanitarian projects, thanks to which over EUR 4 million in aid was raised for Ukraine; he organized the monthly systemic provision of around 45,000 meal portions for people in frontline settlements.
Volunteer Natalia Palenychka. She organizes and conducts fundraising for essential military equipment, including electronic warfare devices, thanks to which UAH 8.5 million was raised last year. She also coordinates the receipt and distribution of humanitarian aid.
Head of Procurement Department of the Charitable Organization Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation, Anton Pyzhykov. Volunteering since 2014; at the start of the full-scale war, he initiated the acquisition of 1,000 night-vision devices for the Defense Forces and obtained a US export license for relevant PVS-14 third-generation devices.
Volunteer, Chairman and co-founder of the Charitable Foundation Swedish Help Center, Serhii Porokhnavets. Since 1996, he has worked on projects for free health care and nutrition for children from low-income families and social construction. The foundation opened a settlement offering free accommodation to IDPs. For the last two years, it has been organizing recreation camps for children from frontline areas. Since February 2022, the foundation has received and delivered over 8,000 tons of humanitarian aid.
Volunteer, philanthropist, founder, and Chair of the Supervisory Board of the Charitable Foundation “MiSt” named after Mykhailo Savenko, Dmytro Savenko. In 2012, he initiated a foundation that supports 17 institutions for over 2,700 children in the Khmelnytskyi region. Since 2022, the foundation has provided assistance to Ukraine’s Armed Forces units worth over UAH 4.5 million and to IDPs and medical institutions worth over UAH 1.5 million.
Rector of the Pro-Cathedral of St. Sophia (Rome), Yaroslav Semegen. From the first days of the full-scale war, he established a humanitarian hub at the cathedral for collecting and sending aid to Ukraine. Humanitarian shipments with medical supplies and clothing are now sent weekly from Rome to Ukrainians from the affected regions.
Volunteer and Operations Coordinator of the NGO Aerial Reconnaissance Support Center, Yuliia Seredenko. She organized humanitarian support measures for military and ATO volunteers. Since May 2023, she has participated in the Victory Drones project, including training military and civilians in modern defense technologies, OSINT development, and instructor preparation.
Volunteer, Head of the NGO Our Battalion, Viacheslav Skichko. Since September 2014, he has led an organization supporting Ukrainian servicemembers. Since the start of the war, he has been engaged in producing light tactical vehicles, repairing and delivering equipment, quadcopters, optics, electronics, first-aid kits, tourniquets, rations, and camouflage nets. He cooperates with foreign volunteers to purchase quadcopters, night-vision devices, and components for FPV drones and buggies.
Volunteers Liudmyla Sobutska and Raisa Sobutska. Since 2014, they have been actively volunteering. They participate in the purchase of vehicles and generators and continuously complete collections of FPV drones for defenders’ needs.
Volunteer, founder of the Charitable Organization Sternenko Community Foundation, Serhii Sternenko. Since 2022, the total amount the foundation has raised for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine has reached roughly UAH 6 billion. It has procured and delivered more than 244,000 drones – including “shahed” interceptors – to military units. It continues to provide consistent support to specific combat units operating on the toughest sections of the front.
Volunteer, Tactical Medicine Manager of the Charitable Foundation Together for Ukraine, Matvii Suslov. Under his leadership, units received over 200,000 tactical medical kits and around 50,000 training aids. He organized training for over 1,000 servicemembers of the Special Operations Forces and Defense Intelligence (combat medic-rescuer) and trained around 200 tactical medicine instructors.
Volunteer, philanthropist, and Head of Department of the Charitable Foundation District #1, Kateryna Terekhova. Since February 24, 2022, she organized support for territorial defense, military kitchens, medical facilities, and maternity hospitals. In March 2022, she opened a humanitarian warehouse in Mukachevo and created a volunteer association, providing daily targeted assistance to IDPs. She helped over 450 IDP families and 2,000 servicemembers.
Volunteer, Head of the LLC Papirinvest, Andrii Fesun. Since 2014, he has consistently supported the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other branches of the Defense Forces. He provides humanitarian aid to residents of de-occupied territories and IDPs in the Rivne region; hosted 14 people in his home; purchased an armored vehicle, cargo van, 31 off-road vehicles, four drones, and a Starlink station for the Armed Forces.
Volunteer, Head of the NGO Scotland – Ukraine, Andrii Kharlanov. In August 2022, he co-founded an organization with Tetiana Kharlanova, establishing systematic connections with communities in the UK, Poland, and the Czech Republic; supplied over 4,000 baby boxes to 40 Ukrainian maternity hospitals; provided footwear, clothing, radios, thermal imagers, Starlinks, hemostatic supplies, EcoFlow charging stations, and pickup trucks to the military.
Volunteer and coordinator of the civic initiative Army SOS Kropyvnytskyi, Oksana Chervona. She implemented projects: Culinary Hundred – preparing mixed meal rations for the military; Charity Book Sale – purchasing military equipment. She provided units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with over 220 drones, five electronic warfare systems, two anti-drone rifles, more than 20 optical devices, and over 70 drone analyzers.
Volunteer and Director of the Charitable Foundation Artania Ukraine, Tetiana Chernovska. She frequently visited frontline and near-frontline areas with humanitarian aid for military personnel and civilians; organized camouflage net weaving, and held charity fairs to purchase drones, an ATV, and Starlinks. She also participates in charitable trips to military hospitals in the Chernivtsi region; arranges gifts for children in frontline orphanages and specialized institutions.
Volunteer, singer, and Director of the Charitable Foundation of Iryna Fedyshyn, Iryna Chovnyk (Fedyshyn). She organized and held over 240 charity concerts in Ukraine and abroad, all proceeds directed to the Armed Forces and humanitarian purposes; purchased and delivered over 400 units of military equipment and hundreds of pieces of gear; assisted IDPs and residents of de-occupied territories.
Coordinator of the military community of the Victory Drones project of the NGO Aerial Reconnaissance Support Center, Hanna Shkarupa. Since 2015, she has assisted the military in the ATO zone; she joined Victory Drones in October 2022. She organizes and moderates closed online lectures for warriors involved with unmanned systems and other modern warfare technologies.
Volunteer Natalia Shulika. Since the start of the full-scale war, she has established medical assistance and the supply of medicines to troops in combat zones. She implements rehabilitation projects for warriors; provides psychosocial assistance and support to combatants and their families, including families of the fallen.
Volunteer, First Deputy Chairman of the NGO Poltava Regional Organization of War‑Disabled Veterans, Armed Forces, Combatants and Security Forces, Ivan Yakushev. He has been volunteering since 2014; since 2022, he has performed combat tasks protecting strategic facilities within a volunteer territorial community; personally provided around UAH 7 million in assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Volunteer, Advisor to the CEO of Prestige-Auto, Anatolii Yashchuk. During the offensive on Mykolaiv, he delivered humanitarian aid to civilians and military personnel; since 2022, purchased and delivered 17 vehicles to the Armed Forces of Ukraine; organized procurement of drones, amplifiers, control panels, and electronic warfare systems; and purchased and delivered equipment to the Khmelnytskyi hospital worth over EUR 200,000.