Voznesensk and Bashtanka in Mykolaiv region receive the title of 'Hero City'

On the Day of Defenders of Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy awarded the honorary distinction of "Hero City of Ukraine" to a number of cities that have shown resilience and heroism in the fight against Russian invaders. Among the honorees are the cities of Voznesensk and Bashtanka in Mykolaiv region.

The relevant decree was published on the website of the President of Ukraine. The President emphasized that these are cities that have saved thousands of lives of our people and are defending our entire country.

According to Zelensky, Voznesensk and Bashtanka are cities that did not give up and fought against all odds, and thanks to which Ukraine managed to destroy Russia's plans to seize our South.

In addition to the cities of Mykolaiv region, the following also received the honorary award:

• <b>Dnipro region:</b> Pavlohrad, Nikopol, Marhanets.
• <b>In Donetsk region:</b> Druzhkivka, Kramatorsk, Kostiantynivka, Pokrovsk, and Sloviansk.
• <b>In Zaporizhzhia region:</b> Gulyaypole, Orikhiv.
• <b>In Kharkiv region:</b> Kupyansk.
• <b>In Sumy region:</b> Sumy, Trostyanets.
• <b>In the Khmelnytskyi region:</b> Starokonstantyniv.

Earlier, in 2022, the honorary title of "Hero City of Ukraine" was awarded to ten cities, including Mykolaiv, Bucha, Volnovakha, Gostomel, Irpin, Mariupol, Okhtyrka, Kharkiv, Kherson, and Chernihiv.

The Ukrainian military highly appreciates the strategic importance of the Battle of Voznesensk in Mykolaiv region, which took place on March 2-3, 2022. It was then that the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the territorial defense forces successfully repelled an attempt by Russian invaders to seize the city.

According to Kyrylo Nehymchuk, a participant in the fighting, the fall of Voznesensk in March 2022 "would have jeopardized the entire south of Ukraine," opening a direct route for Russian troops to Transnistria.

On March 1, 2022, the district center of Bashtanka in Mykolaiv region became the scene of a decisive battle in which local defenders stopped the vastly superior forces of the Russian occupiers.

A column of a battalion tactical group of the Russian Armed Forces, consisting of about 400 pieces of military equipment, approached Bashtanka from the direction of Yavkyno. The backbone of this powerful column was made up of units from the 126th Separate Coast Guard Brigade of the 22nd Army Corps. The defense lasted almost a week. Local territorial defense units and volunteers held back the powerful Russian column until the main combat units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine came to the rescue on March 8.

Катерина Глушко