On 26 November, the Kyiv Worldwide Centre of Tradition and Arts hosted the third annual UP100 awards ceremony, celebrating 100 leaders of Ukraine who’re working tirelessly to form the nation's future.
Winners had been chosen in six classes: Defenders, Society, Public Administration, Enterprise, Tradition and Sport. The complete record is offered here.
The occasion's normal companions had been the regulation agency Ader Haber and Ajax Systems, with further assist from Inzhur, Biosphere Corporation, Fractal, Aga.te, Gasanova, Damirli, La Famiglia Catering, Gemini, Coca-Cola HBC Ukraine and Truskavetska. The official sponsor was Ararat.
This yr's ceremony, titled The Fringe of Alternative / Alternative on the Edge and attended by 1,300 visitors, opened with a spectacular efficiency by the electro-folk band Onuka. Ukrainska Pravda Editor-in-Chief Sevğil Musaieva then took to the stage to welcome the viewers.
"We've gathered right here at one of the vital tough moments in our trendy historical past, when every one in all us resides on the sting – between exhaustion and energy, between compromise and precept, between adapting and remaining who we’re," Sevğil stated.
"That's why the title of tonight's occasion – The Fringe of Alternative / Alternative on the Edge – doesn’t sound like an abstraction, however like a system for our current. The concept for this yr's awards got here to me again in the summertime, on the times once we witnessed makes an attempt to dismantle the Nationwide Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) and the Specialised Anti-Corruption Prosecutor's Workplace (SAPO), when many people felt, for the primary time in a protracted whereas, that even in wartime, there are some conditions which might be able to breaking society's spine.
It was arduous to think about then that inside a number of months, we’d discover ourselves at some extent of much more intense feelings and much more painful choices. The previous few weeks have been powerful, and we shouldn't conceal that. We’ve seen issues which might be hurtful, which might be disappointing, and that make us doubt folks, programs, and generally even whether or not there are any traces left that can’t be crossed."
Sevğil then shared the shifting tales of three Ukrainians, every of whom has personally confronted a alternative on the sting. The primary was Viktoriia Kuzmina, whose husband was killed on the primary day of the full-scale invasion whereas defending Ukraine's skies.
"Viktoriia might have left the service as she has two younger kids, and nobody would have judged her. However she made a unique alternative: she stayed within the Air Pressure, discovered English, mastered the Patriot system, and have become a type of who down Russian missiles, saving the lives of lots of of Ukrainian troopers and civilians."
Sevğil then informed the story of 18-year-old Ivan Sarancha, a younger man from briefly occupied Luhansk "who did the unimaginable – he broke free from an surroundings of concern and propaganda and consciously selected to be Ukrainian".
"With no assist, no ensures, relying solely on his inside honesty and willpower, he walked a path many adults wouldn’t dare to take. His escape from occupation was not merely an escape, however an act of freedom. Ivan goals of turning into an architect, however even right now he’s an architect of alternative – an emblem of the truth that even within the darkest environment, one can stay oneself and select Ukraine."
The third story was that of Viacheslav Zaporozhets, who started evacuating folks and went on to discovered a prosthetics centre for troopers.
"Earlier than she died, his mom requested him to 'develop into an actual human being'. As we speak, he’s precisely that: the one who goes first the place others are afraid to go, and holds onto those that undergo essentially the most."
Sevğil then started the awards ceremony, presenting symbolic pins to the winners. The award for the late Oleksandr Hordiienko, a farmer from Kherson Oblast who single-handedly cleared lots of of hectares of fields of landmines, was accepted by his daughter and grandson on his behalf.
"This award ought to have been collected by my father," Oleksandr's daughter Alina stated. "He was typically an opinion chief. He was posthumously awarded the nation's highest honour – Hero of Ukraine. Dad, I do know you’re right here with us now, and the best factor can be to surrender and mourn, however we’re the Hordiienkos, a Cossack household, so we attempt to keep robust and settle for your honours."
The second pin was awarded to the R.T. Weatherman Basis in Ukraine and its president, Meaghan Mobbs, whose crew works to deliver fallen troopers dwelling. Meaghan had recorded a video message for the viewers.
"For me, management means ethical braveness. It means being prepared to say the arduous fact even when everyone seems to be saying the straightforward lie… And after I noticed the photographs popping out of Russian paratroopers over Ukraine, not coming to liberate, however coming to oppress, to occupy, for me it was a very horrific, surreal second… It’s right here in Ukraine that that battle is being genuinely fought in actual time daily," Mobbs stated.
After her handle, Sevğil launched the hosts of the primary a part of the night: UP political correspondent Roman Romaniuk and journalist Myroslava Gongadze, who recalled a vital chapter in Ukraine's historical past.
"Twenty-five years in the past, Ukrainska Pravda was born. Twenty-five years in the past, the authorities murdered its founder and my husband, Georgiy Gongadze. Twenty-five years in the past, a tape scandal erupted that will go down in historical past as Kuchmagate. Twenty-five years of battle and unpunished evil have introduced us to the purpose the place, 25 years later, Ukraine has as soon as once more been plunged right into a tape scandal."
The hosts then introduced the winners within the first two classes, Defenders and Society, and so they had been invited on stage to be formally congratulated.
This was adopted by a panel dialogue titled Our Land, targeted on Kherson and moderated by UP Deputy Editor-in-Chief Yevhen Buderatskyi. He was joined on stage by navy pilot Yevhen Soloviov and former Kherson mayor Volodymyr Mykolaienko, who survived Russian captivity. Mykolaienko was requested about propaganda claiming that "the folks of Kherson have by no means been patriots".
"I don't know what extra the folks of Kherson must do to show to the world that they don’t have anything to do with Russia and wish nothing to do with Russia. The folks of Kherson are true patriots of Ukraine."
Volodymyr additionally mirrored on why some folks select to not go away harmful areas.
"I'm the identical: I survived captivity, I'll survive the assaults. I'm staying in Kherson and I'm not going anyplace," he stated. "I felt this particularly strongly yesterday, when my spouse despatched me a video of our condo on fireplace after a strike. It hurts, however now we have all confronted these losses. That's life. It’s more durable whenever you lose the folks you really liked, who went to conflict."
You possibly can watch UP's interview with Volodymyr Mykolaienko right here.
In distinction, Yevhen Soloviov supplied a unique perspective:
"It's no secret that the Armed Forces are doing all the pieces they’ll to make sure security. However sadly, it's unimaginable to ensure security from artillery or drone assaults. All the things our persons are doing now, they're doing for all times, as a result of life is essentially the most valuable factor. I imagine that leaving with a view to keep secure shouldn’t be an indication of weak point; it's an funding sooner or later… And later, we’ll rebuild an excellent higher Kherson."
Volodymyr rounded off the dialogue with an emotional address that clearly resonated with the room.
"I’m deeply pissed off by politicians who deal with a authorities disaster as a possibility to complement themselves," he stated. "Everybody treats Ukrainians as a useful resource, however this useful resource shouldn’t be infinite… Individuals are all now we have. I’ve seen Russia up shut, and I’m sure that there’s nothing extra vile, extra despicable, or extra totally in contrast to Ukraine, than Russia."
Subsequent to step onto the stage was Marta Levchenko, a winner within the Society class and the founding father of Metropolis of Goodness, a charity that gives shelter for kids.
"I wish to communicate for kids whose tales stay untold – kids who’re lonely, evacuated, critically ailing," Marta stated. "Each little one has the suitable to a household and a house. We began out on the skinny line between actuality and dream, between how issues are and the way they should be. We offer medical therapy for folks dwelling with critical sickness – however greater than that, we deliver gentle again into their lives."
A portray created by kids from the shelter, 4 Seasons of the Metropolis of Goodness, was auctioned for UAH 1 million (round US$23,650).
The second panel dialogue, Our Tradition, Our Heritage, introduced collectively cinematographer Oleksandr Babenko, author Artem Chekh and singer Maryna Krut. The dialogue was moderated by Kateryna Zagoriy, founding father of the Zagoriy Basis.
"We live by the primary conflict that may be absolutely documented, due to technological progress," Oleksandr stated. "Now it is important that we protect this reminiscence and this expertise, in order that it may be proven each to folks right now and to those that will look again years from now. Know-how allows us to see the conflict by the eyes of a Ukrainian infantryman in a first-person view."
"The lifetime of a inventive individual is break up in two," Maryna mirrored. "The half lived on earth, and the half that lives on of their work. You realise you wish to convey all of this [the war] to future generations. I care about what is going to come after me, about what is going to stay. That brings with it an enormous accountability. I attempt to be the ears that can later develop into the voice."
Kateryna put a tough query to Artem: ought to dying be softened and romanticised in artwork, or depicted extra realistically?
"Individuals get used to dying in a short time, and that's regular," the author replied. "Possibly you come out of it later as a unique individual, with a unique mind-set. Ought to we current it in some refined means, ought to we flip it into heroism? No, we shouldn't. We see the conflict on-line, we perceive what occurs. So let's present it as it’s."
The panellists highlighted six pillars which might be preserving Ukraine going proper now: the military, the language, tradition, fact, reminiscence, and values.
After a short interval, the viewers was handled to a spectacular efficiency by the Pavlo Virsky Ukrainian Nationwide People Dance Ensemble: Dance of the Zaporizhzhians.
For the following a part of the night, presenters Oksana Lebedieva and Ihor Liski stepped into the highlight to disclose this yr's winners within the remaining UP100 classes – Public Administration, Enterprise, Tradition and Sport.
Sevğil Musaieva additionally introduced a particular award to Ukraine's power staff, who proceed to "hold the lights on when it feels as if darkness is profitable", inviting workers from DTEK Energo, the nation's largest personal power firm, to come back on stage to simply accept it.
The third panel, Our Justice, moderated by Mykhailo Tkach, Ukrainska Pravda's head of investigations, introduced collectively Oleksandr Klymenko, head of SAPO, Semen Kryvonos, director of NABU, and Dmytro Koziatynskyi, a veteran of the Russo-Ukrainian conflict who launched the Cardboard Maidan, a collection of anti-government protests held in July 2025 in response to the passing of the regulation that stripped Ukraine's anti-corruption establishments of their independence.
Oleksandr Klymenko reminded the viewers: "We’ve to recognise that corruption exists in all places, in each nation. Conflict is fertile floor for it to flourish, which is why we can not cease preventing it for one second."
As Dmytro Koziatynskyi put it starkly, "Sadly, there are some folks for whom the conflict may be very far-off, each bodily and mentally. For them, the conflict is nothing greater than an opportunity to line their pockets… I hoped the protests would make a distinction, as a result of protesting throughout a conflict is a final resort. At that second, I realised protest was all we had left."
NABU director Semen Kryvonos warned: "We’ve weak regulation enforcement establishments which might be topic to political affect, finishing up political orders to note or ignore sure issues. Through the conflict, this affect has grown. Individuals with unexplained job titles are giving orders to the regulation enforcement system. It is a main downside… We have to construct impartial establishments."
Kryvonos additionally commented on the principle goal of NABU's high-profile Operation Midas.
"We’ve to see this case by to the tip and present the Ukrainian public precisely how a lot cash has truly been stolen and the way a lot of it has been transformed into costly villas in Switzerland, flats, property, and money in financial institution accounts. And we should return all of it to the Ukrainian funds. That’s our job."
Mykhailo Tkach requested Semen how typically they obtain threats.
"Day by day, about 3 times a day," Kryvonos replied. "One second they're threatening to jail us, then to arrest us, cost us, detain us. There's full and utter chaos within the regulation enforcement system. It's a multitude."
On the finish of the panel dialogue, Mykhailo Tkach auctioned off a legendary cardboard placard that reads "We’ve a f**kton extra cardboard". The profitable bidder was Andrii Zhurzhii, founder and CEO of Inzhur
The ultimate panel dialogue, Our Cash, introduced collectively Vyriy Drone founder Oleksii Babenko, OKKO Group CEO Vasyl Danyliak and Honey café co-founder Anna Zavertailo, who mentioned constructing a enterprise in wartime. The dialog was moderated by Ukrainska Pravda journalist Mariia Melnyk.
Reflecting on whether or not Ukraine can forge a worldwide arms model, Oleksii Babenko stated: "It completely can. That is precisely how the Ukrainian defence model is now being constructed. Whether or not it is going to work… judging by studies and enterprise journeys, it has already occurred on the stage of defence corporations in different international locations. This enterprise has develop into impartial and never solely on a par with different international locations. It's an instance of how Ukraine has created a technological phenomenon."
The third UP100 awards ceremony drew to a detailed with a blazing set from Armed Forces veteran Ivan Tkalenko, inventor of the electrical bandura.
Examine final yr's UP100 awards ceremony in our 2024 report. Earlier this yr, Ukrainska Pravda additionally honoured 100 ladies leaders at our Energy of Girls Awards.
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Images: Ihor Vasyliev, Emma Soldatova
Authors: Tamara Kudriavchenko, Karyna Timkova
Translation: Tetiana Buchkovska, Ganna (Anna) Bryedova
Enhancing: Teresa Pearce
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