Another 29 defenders who laid down their lives for Ukraine’s independence will receive the St George’s Badge of Honour from the city. The awards will be presented to the families of the heroes tomorrow, 25 August, at the Lviv City Council. This will be the 11th such ceremony in Lviv.
For a year now, Lviv has been holding a ceremony to mark the anniversary of the St George’s Badge of Honour (posthumously) for the defenders of Ukraine’s independence who have been defending the country since 2014 and since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion.
As a reminder, the St George’s Badge of Honour is a Lviv city award given for outstanding services to the city. The award is depicted in the form of a cross with a circle inscribed with the image of St George, the patron saint of Lviv.
This decoration is awarded to all Lviv residents who gave their lives for Ukraine. The award ceremony takes place on the occasion of major state and national holidays. The first ceremony took place on 26 May 2023, on the occasion of the Day of Heroes, when 21 servicemen were awarded (posthumously). The next ceremony took place on 27 June on the occasion of the Constitution Day of Ukraine – 26 servicemen were awarded (posthumously). On the occasion of the Flag Day and Independence Day of Ukraine, 23 servicemen were awarded (posthumously), and on the eve of the Day of Defenders of Ukraine, 25 servicemen were awarded (posthumously). Also, on 6 December, on the occasion of the Day of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, 25 Lviv residents were posthumously awarded. On 22 January 2024, on the occasion of the Day of Unity of Ukraine, 25 servicemen were posthumously awarded, on the occasion of the Day of the City of Lviv, 25 Lviv residents were posthumously awarded, and on 29 May, on the occasion of the Day of Heroes, 30 Lviv residents were posthumously awarded. Also, on 28 June, on the Day of the Constitution of Ukraine, 30 Lviv residents were awarded (posthumously). And on the Day of Ukrainian Statehood, another 30 Lviv residents were awarded (posthumously).
In total, 260 fallen Lviv defenders have already received this award (64 of them defended Ukraine between 2014 and 2022, and 196 defended the country from the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022).