President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has signed a decree awarding the Order of Freedom to Tigran Ohannisyan and Mykyta Khanghanov, two teenagers killed in Russian-occupied Berdyansk last year. The presidential website published the decree on 19 July.
The award recognises “civic courage, patriotism and devoted defence of Ukraine’s sovereignty and independence”, the presidential office said.
Ohannisyan had been a pupil at Berdyansk Secondary School No. 7, while Khanghanov studied at School No. 1. After the southern port city fell under Russian control, both teenagers remained in Berdyansk and openly maintained their pro-Ukrainian stance despite threats and intimidation.
According to the president’s office, Russian forces tortured Ohannisyan, including with electric shocks, while Khanghanov faced trumped-up charges that could have resulted in a 20-year prison sentence.
Both boys were shot dead by snipers in June 2023. Human rights defenders say the teenagers were accused by Russian investigators of planning sabotage on the local railway line — a charge that carried up to two decades in prison.
The Ukrainian ombudsman, Dmytro Lubinets, has said Ohannisyan endured five days of torture during interrogations, which aimed to force a confession.
A year later, the bodies have yet to be returned to their families. According to the president’s press service, Russia continues to refuse to hand them over. Lubinets appealed to the International Committee of the Red Cross in 2024 to intervene so that the families could bury their sons with dignity.
In October last year, a lawyer for Ohannisyan’s family told local media that the occupying authorities may have buried the teenagers in secret during the summer of 2024.
Both names have since become symbols of defiance in occupied southern Ukraine, where residents continue to face reprisals for refusing to accept Russian rule.