Zelenskyy presents state awards to Antonov Airport defenders – photo

With the participation of the European Commission president and the prime ministers of Italy, Canada and Belgium, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has met with Ukrainian soldiers who took part in the defence of Antonov Airport at the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion and conferred state awards upon them.

Source: Ukrainian president’s website

Details: The event took place at the Antonov Airport near the town of Hostomel in Kyiv Oblast.

The meeting was attended by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen; Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni; Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo, and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Other participants of the gathering included Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal; Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko; Vasyl Maliuk, Head of the Security Service of Ukraine; Anatolii Barhylevych, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine; Oleksandr Pavliuk, Commander of the Ukrainian Ground Forces; and Kyrylo Budanov, Chief of Ukraine's Defence Intelligence.

Photo: Ukrainian President’s Office

Quote from Zelenskyy: "Today, we are in a symbolic place, in Hostomel. It was here that Putin wanted to win the battle for our capital, the battle for Kyiv – the key battle of that blitzkrieg he planned. And it was here that he suffered the first – and fundamental – defeat. When our soldiers destroyed the Russian killers' landing and didn't allow Russia to create its foothold here, the world saw the most important thing. It saw that any evil can be defeated, and Russian aggression is no exception.

The unity of people can do more than any dictator. And courage, ordinary people's courage, can turn even those pages of history that seemed like they would never end. Ukrainians did not betray their independence. The world did not fail, did not make a mistake and supported Ukraine."

More details: The Ukrainian president is confident that all Russian murderers, starting with President Putin, will be brought to justice for their actions in Ukraine.

Zelenskyy presented the Orders of the Golden Star to Hero of Ukraine, Master Sergeant Ihor Hryshchenko; Captain Maksym Danylchuk; Lieutenant Colonel Oleksandr Doleiko; Staff Sergeant Illia Zheved; Petro Melnyk, Captain of the Marine Guard of the State Border Guard Service, and Staff Sergeant Denys Chubarev, commander of a mortar battery of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In addition, Zelenskyy presented the President's Crosses of Combat Merit to Lieutenant Colonel Oleh Dmytryshyn; Junior Sergeant Serhii Dobko; Sergeant Olena Dubyna, and Private Dmytro Kovalskyi. The president also conferred the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, II and III classes, the Order for Courage, II and III classes, and the Personalised Firearm award upon the defenders of Ukraine.

Before that, Zelenskyy, together with the European Commission president and the prime ministers of Italy, Canada and Belgium, paid tribute to the fallen defenders of Ukraine on St Michael's Square.

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