Overview

• Presidential decrees published on October 1 confer the title Hero of Ukraine posthumously on Andriy Parubiy, Gennadiy Afanasiev, Volodymyr Vakulenko and Stepan Chubenko.
• Parubiy, a former speaker of the Verkhovna Rada and Maidan organizer, was shot dead in Lviv on August 30 after lawmakers urged the honor on September 18.
• Afanasiev, a Crimean activist detained by Russia’s FSB in 2014 and imprisoned for 767 days, later served in Ukraine’s forces and was reported killed in Luhansk region in late 2022.
• Vakulenko, a writer and volunteer, was killed during the occupation of parts of Kharkiv region, with his remains identified by DNA testing reported in November 2022.
• A day earlier, the Lviv Regional Council petitioned for posthumous honors for Iryna Farion and Parubiy, though Farion was not included in the October 1 decrees.