A petition on the fallen defenders of Kherson addressed to the President

Families of the fallen defenders of Kherson from the 124th Separate Brigade of the 194th Separate Battalion of the Kherson Regional Military Forces have petitioned President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy to award the highest award "Hero of Ukraine" to all the fallen Heroes of the Lilac Square in Kherson and the Kherson Lyceum of the Kherson Regional Council.

The petition itself is posted in the electronic petitions section on the website of the President of Ukraine.

The petition states that on March 1, 2022, soldiers of the 124th Separate Brigade of the 194th Separate Battalion of the Kherson region, almost barehanded, without uniforms, appropriate ammunition and protective equipment, only with assault rifles, several grenades and two RPGs "fly" for each company, went out to defend their native land from the invasion of the Russian occupiers. This is an extraordinary story of the defense of the city of Kherson, the struggle for the south of Ukraine, an extraordinary patriotic feat, the sacrifice and thirst of an entire battalion, none of whom neglected their duty and principles, hid at home, or surrendered. It was a battle for life and death. It was an extremely tragic and heroic battle that went down in our history along with the history of the Kruty Heroes.

The petition also states that the story of the Lilac Square became very loud and outrageous when society learned that these soldiers were not recognized by their military unit as their own. The families of the victims had to spend two years trying to get the relevant documents restored from the military unit, and finally, thanks to the efforts of many concerned people, they succeeded, and the survivors are still continuing their struggle.

The applicants recalled that on the anniversary of the liberation of the city of Kherson from the occupation of Russian troops, at the request of the Kherson Regional Military Administration, 18 soldiers were awarded the Order "For Courage" of the III degree for personal courage and selflessness in the defense of state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, loyalty to the Ukrainian people by Presidential Decree 747/2023. It is noted that due to the human factor, one Hero was missed and not awarded, which greatly influenced the negative perception of the seriousness of the authorities responsible for this.

"Thus, our heroes, with this award "For Courage" of the third degree, have become on a par with people of unequal achievements to the feat of the Heroes of the Lilac Square and the Kherson Regional Lyceum. We are in no way belittling the importance of these awards and the people who have received and are receiving them, we want to define the heroic deed of each soldier of the Buzkovy Square and the Lyceum, which is different from those who have been awarded the Order of Courage of the III degree," the petition says.

The petitioners request that the title of Hero of Ukraine be conferred on 19 soldiers: VDOVYCHENKO Volodymyr Vasylovych (posthumously) - senior soldier; VORONTSOV Taras Oleksandrovych (posthumously) - soldier; HONCHAR Mykola Anatoliyovych (posthumously) - soldier; HROZYNSKYI Vitaliy Volodymyrovych (posthumously) - soldier; DANILOV Denys Pavlovych (posthumously) - junior sergeant; DANCHENKO Ivan Pavlovych (posthumously) - Junior Sergeant; DANCHUK Serhiy Romanovych (posthumously) - Soldier; LYSENKO Ivan Mykolayovych (posthumously) - Soldier; MAKARSKYI Oleh Mykhailovych (posthumously) - Captain; NEPOMNYASHCHYI Oleksandr Mykolayovych (posthumously) - Sergeant; OSINNYI Volodymyr Leonidovych (posthumously), a soldier; PANCHUK Petro Vasylovych (posthumously), a junior sergeant; POLOVYUK Yuriy Valentynovych (posthumously), a soldier; RONSKOY Oleksiy Mykhailovych (posthumously), a senior soldier; SAVELIEV Oleksandr Mykolayovych (posthumously), a senior soldier; SLYVKIN Mykola Mykhailovych (posthumously) - Senior sergeant; KHANDUSENKO Serhiy Serhiyovych (posthumously) - Senior sergeant; SHORNYK Oleh Stanislavovych (posthumously) - soldier; SHCHOGOLEV Andriy Volodymyrovych (posthumously) - sergeant.