The Order for Courage: A decoration for an act undertaken at risk to one’s life
Behind every Order for Courage is a moment when a person could have left but stayed. Since the start of the full-scale war, this award has appeared in presidential decrees almost weekly, often next to a name marked "posthumously." Recipients include service members, rescuers, police officers, volunteers and civilians who acted under threat of death. Frontliner explains what the Order is awarded for, what it looks like, and what state support its recipients can count on.
The Order for Courage was established on August 21, 1996. It replaced two presidential decorations, the Star and Cross “For Courage,” whose holders were designated equivalent to holders of the new order. After a law on state awards was adopted in 2000, the order became part of Ukraine’s award system. The order’s statute and the law on state awards define it as a decoration for a personal act carried out under dangerous circumstances.
Grounds for the award can include saving people or property during a fire, a natural disaster or another emergency; confronting criminals; or carrying out a military, professional or civic duty at risk to one’s life. Recipients can be Ukrainian citizens, foreign nationals or stateless persons. The order is conferred by the president through a decree, including posthumously.
Three steps of courage
From the third degree to the first
The order has three degrees. Awards begin with the third degree, after which a person may be granted the second and then the highest, first degree. Every recipient formally holds the title of an order bearer. A person who has received all three degrees is called a full bearer of the order.
A candidate is usually nominated by a military unit, institution or collective. The nomination, including a description of specific merits, goes through the relevant command, ministry or other authorized state body. The final decision is issued as a presidential decree. A petition or a request from the family does not substitute for this procedure.
A cross, swords and a trident
All three insignia are shaped like a cross. At the center is a blue circle bearing the small state emblem, and the design incorporates crossed swords. The differences lie in the metal, the finishing and how the insignia is worn.
The first-degree insignia is made of gilded silver: a white cross rests on a laurel wreath, with swords visible behind it. It is worn on a blue neck ribbon along with a silver eight-pointed star. The second- and third-degree insignia each consist of a single cross, worn pinned on the left side of the chest.
An award of the full-scale war
How many people have received it
The state does not publish a single, current, open registry of all Order for Courage recipients. As a result, it is not possible to state the exact number of people awarded the order since Feb. 24, 2022 is unknown.
The overall scale of awards is known. As of Oct. 1, 2025, nearly 124,000 people had received state decorations for defending Ukraine. That figure includes all orders, medals and titles combined, so it does not show the number of Order for Courage recipients specifically.
Service members and civilians
Recipients include members of various branches of Ukraine’s Defense Forces, law enforcement officers, rescuers and civilians. Andriiy Onufrak, a pilot with the 39th Tactical Aviation Brigade, became a full bearer of the order.
In February 2026, war correspondent Marian Kushnir received the third-degree Order for Courage after saving a 4-year-old girl during a Russian strike. For this award, what matters is the act and the personal risk taken, not a person’s profession or military rank.
What the Order provides
One award doesn’t unlock all benefits
The Order itself, regardless of degree, does not automatically confer the status of a combat participant, a person with a disability caused by the war, or a family member of someone killed. These statuses are established separately, and it is these statuses, not the order itself, that are tied to most utility discounts and medical, transportation and other veteran benefits.
A war veteran awarded a Ukrainian order for courage while defending the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity may be entitled to a pension supplement for special merit. In 2026, the supplement for this category is 35% of the subsistence minimum for persons unable to work, or 908.25 hryvnias.
A full set carries separate weight
A significantly larger monthly payment is available to full bearers of the Order who directly defended Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and received all three degrees starting in 2014. The payment is equal to the minimum wage set as of Jan. 1 of the relevant year. In 2026, that amount is 8,647 hryvnias.
In other words, a single degree can affect pension benefits if the recipient also holds the legally defined status. A separate monthly payment equal to the minimum wage is available to full bearers of the Order who meet the specified conditions.
What a recipient or their family should know
- Presidential decrees record the award decision. The document must include the recipient’s last name, first name, patronymic and the degree of the order.
- An order certificate is issued along with the insignia. The first degree includes a cross, a star and a certificate; the second and third degrees include a cross and a certificate.
- A posthumous award is given to the family. After the recipient’s death, the order and its documents remain with the family as a memento.
- To receive payments, a person must apply to the Pension Fund of Ukraine. Payments are not granted automatically based on the award ceremony alone.
- A full bearer of the order must submit documents confirming all three degrees along with confirmation of participation in defending Ukraine.
- Veteran benefits are granted based on the corresponding legal status. The order does not replace a combat-participant certificate or another required document.
- Losing the award does not guarantee a duplicate will be issued. A duplicate may be granted as an exception if the holder could not have prevented the loss or damage.
A decoration behind which stands a specific moment
Not an award for years of service
The Order for Courage is not granted for years spent in uniform or an unblemished record. The award has to rest on a specific act involving personal danger.
That is why it goes to soldiers and officers, medics, journalists, volunteers and rescuers alike.
Names that outnumber the public statistics
Since the start of the full-scale invasion, the order has become one of Ukraine’s most significant decorations. The state has still not created an accessible public registry that would make it possible to see all recipients, their acts and the share of posthumous awards.
Behind the dry lines of the decrees are thousands of individual stories, — and far too many orders received not by the people who earned them, but by their families.
