Representatives of the Ukrainian people receive European Parliament’s 2022 Sakharov Prize
The people of Ukraine received the European Parliament’s annual Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought on Dec. 14, 2022, to honor their fight against Russia’s invasion.
At the ceremony in Strasbourg, the people of Ukraine were represented by elected leaders and civil society: Oleksandra Matviychuk — human rights lawyer and chair of the Center for Civil Liberties organization, who was among the winners of the 2022 Nobel Peace Prize; Yulia Pajevska — medic that was in Russian captivity; Ivan Fedorov — the mayor of Melitopol, who was in captivity too; Oleksandr Chekryhin and Stanislav Kulykivskyi — representing the State Emergency Services and Yaroslav Bozhko of the Yellow Ribbon Civil Resistance Movement.
Also, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered a speech online. “We must act now, not waiting for the war to end, to bring to justice all those who unleashed it and to prevent any repetition of aggression,” said Zelenskyy.
“We have witnessed the inspiring resistance of ordinary citizens making the ultimate sacrifice to delay a convoy of tanks, senior citizens standing up to face down Russian troops with nothing but pride as their weapons. Brave women were forced to give birth in underground metro stations,” said European Parliament President Roberta Metsola.
