The 27-nation bloc awarded the “brave people of Ukraine” the prize in October.
Yulia Pajevska, founding father of the medical evacuation unit Angels of Taira, human rights activist Oleksandra Matviichuk and Ivan Fedorov, mayor of the occupied metropolis of Melitopol, had been readily available to obtain it throughout a solemn ceremony in Strasbourg, France.
“We have witnessed the inspiring resistance of ordinary citizens making the ultimate sacrifice to delay a column of tanks, senior citizens standing up to face down Russian troops with nothing but pride as their weapons. Brave women forced to give birth in underground metro stations,” stated European Parliament President Roberta Metsola.
“To these people, the message from Europe has been clear. We stand with Ukraine. We will not look away,” she stated.
The EU award, named for Soviet dissident Andrei Sakharov, was created in 1988 to honor people or teams who defend human rights and elementary freedoms. Sakharov, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate, died in 1989.
It’s the second straight yr EU lawmakers used the Sakharov Prize to ship a message to the Kremlin. Imprisoned Russian opposition chief Alexei Navalny gained it final yr.
The defiance of Ukrainians throughout the practically 10-month-old warfare has continued regardless of an uptick in assaults in current weeks.
Ukrainian forces have reclaimed broad swaths of the nation, dealing a blow to Russia’s navy status, since launching a counteroffensive in late August.
