Rada plans to simplify collection of signatures for awarding the title of Hero of Ukraine: what is known

22 January 18:35

The Verkhovna Rada plans to simplify the procedure for awarding the title of Hero of Ukraine (with the presentation of the Order of the Golden Star or the Order of the State) based on electronic petitions addressed to the President. The purpose of the draft law is to reduce the number of signatures required for the awarding of the title of Hero of Ukraine. In particular, it is proposed to reduce the number of signatures from 25,000 to 5,000. Currently, there are about 1,000 such petitions, but some have failed to get the required number of votes.

According to one of the authors of this draft law, Oleksandr Yurchenko, a huge number of electronic petitions for the awarding of the title of Hero of Ukraine are at the stage of collecting signatures. In his opinion, the requirement to collect at least 25,000 signatures within 3 months of publication is overstated. It is very difficult to collect such a large number of votes during a full-scale invasion, hostilities, power outages and lack of internet. Therefore, according to him, the number of signatures should be reduced.

The author also claims that “the implementation of the project does not require additional costs from the state and local budgets of Ukraine.” According to the Law of Ukraine No. 3721-XII “On the Basic Principles of Social Protection of Labor Veterans and Other Elderly Citizens in Ukraine,” as well as tax and customs legislation, persons who have the title of Hero of Ukraine and their family members receive benefits. These include monthly payments, pension supplements, free medical treatment and transportation, exemptions from utility bills, tax benefits, etc. Perhaps that is why there are not so many Heroes in Ukraine.

Not everyone is awarded the title of Hero

As of January 19, 2025, decrees conferring the title of Hero of Ukraine have been issued to 1007 people since 1998. According to Wikipedia, some of the decrees of 2022-2024 on the awarding of the title were not published, but official sources say that at least 25 more people were awarded the title. President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma awarded 132 people, Viktor Yushchenko – 114, Viktor Yanukovych – 40, Petro Poroshenko – 163, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy – 558. In recent years, the title has been awarded to military personnel. The title of Hero of Ukraine was awarded to the former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, the current Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi, and the head of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine Kyrylo Budanov. The commander of the Da Vinci Wolves battalion, Dmytro Kotsiubailo, and the executed soldier Oleksandr Matsievskyi were posthumously awarded. However, only a small part of the petitions are signed – at best, 20-25%.

Lawyers believe that a petition alone, even if it garners the required number of votes, is not enough to make a decision on awarding the title of Hero of Ukraine. What matters is the fact of a feat or heroic deed, and this concept is rather vague.

“The feelings of the relatives are understandable. For them, their son, daughter, brother, sister, father or mother who died in the war are heroes. And then the question arises: what kind of act should be considered heroic for a person to be awarded this title? For example, the president awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine to a guy who fought a Buryat with a knife. Yes, he lost, but he fought to the last. We learned about this from a video from his camera that fell into the hands of the Russians. How many heroic deeds remain unknown? Each case from the petition is considered separately,” said military lawyer Valentyn Kulyk.

The decision on the award is made by a specially created expert group under the Commission of State Awards and Heraldry under the President of Ukraine. It includes representatives of law enforcement agencies, the military and officials from the Presidential Office. They study the documents on each of the candidates for the title of Hero of Ukraine, primarily information from the place of service, testimonies of colleagues and commanders. It is the characterization that comes from the military unit that determines whether the title will be granted. And even if the petition garners the required number of votes, it does not guarantee a positive outcome. However, petitions are an effective way to draw attention to the person of a fallen soldier.

Military opinion

Active military personnel believe that it is up to their colleagues or commanders to decide who should be nominated for the title of Hero of Ukraine. The award should be given for a real heroic act, not just for the fact of death on the battlefield. And the very concept of “military feat” needs to be clearly defined.

What benefits do Heroes of Ukraine and their families have?

  • Monthly payments in the amount of three minimum wages determined on January 1 of the calendar year (in 2025 – UAH 24,000).
  • Pension supplements equal to 200% of the minimum pension (UAH 2,361 in 2025).
  • Provision of prescription drugs and free dental prosthetics.
  • Exemption from paying rent and utilities.
  • Free major repairs of a house or apartment or monetary compensation for such repairs.
  • Priority improvement of housing conditions (up to 20 square meters additionally) at the expense of the state or public housing fund.
  • Benefits in the payment of taxes, fees, duties and other payments to the budget.
  • Priority right to travel by any means of transportation.
  • Monthly compensation of 50 liters of gasoline for a car in accordance with current fuel prices.
  • Priority right to remain in the workplace in case of redundancy, and in case of liquidation of the employer – priority employment.
  • Free training and retraining, including at courses and in paid educational institutions.
  • Annual paid vacation and an additional three weeks’ vacation (at your own expense) at a convenient time outside the schedule.
  • Free burial of the deceased/fallen Hero of Ukraine and installation of a monument at the expense of the state.

According to the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine No. 144 dated 26.02.2020, family members of the fallen Hero of Ukraine are paid a monetary reward in the amount of 50 times the subsistence level for able-bodied persons (UAH 151,400 as of 2025).

Author – Alla Dunina



Мандровська Олександра
Editor