Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that he has signed and submitted to the Verkhovna Rada a draft law that will give the "Cross of Combat Merit" award not only symbolic meaning. Zelenskyy stated this in his evening address, as reported by UNN.
Today, I signed and submitted to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine a draft law – a draft law, in fact, about respect – for soldiers who are awarded the "Cross of Combat Merit." This is objectively a high award, but de jure, the Cross of Combat Merit is currently an insignia that has symbolic weight. We will ensure that the award gives soldiers real benefits, and in the hierarchy of awards, the "Cross of Combat Merit" will be on par with the title of Hero of Ukraine and the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi.
He emphasized that currently, 318 soldiers have been awarded the "Cross of Combat Merit."
I ask the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to promptly prepare this draft law for a vote.
Recall that
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed a decree awarding the Order of Liberty to Tigran Ohannisyan and Mykyta Khanganov, who were killed by Russian occupiers on June 24, 2023, in temporarily occupied Berdiansk.