Oksana Zabuzhko and Oleh Sentsov become laureates of Legion of Honour
Writer and publicist Oksana Zabuzhko and Oleh Sentsov, a film director and writer and a serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, were awarded France's highest award, the Order of the Legion of Honour.
This award will be presented to them on 14 July in Hagia Sophia by French Ambassador Etienne de Ponsin, the embassy reported on Twitter.
Quote: "On the day of the National Holiday in the garden of Saint Sophia, Etienne de Ponsin has the honour, on behalf of President Emmanuel Macron, to present the awards of the National Order of the Legion of Honour to Oksana Zabuzhko and Oleh Sentsov, iconic and outstanding personalities of Ukraine," the message reads.
En ce jour de Fête Nationale dans les jardins de la Ste-Sophie, @EdePoncins a l’honneur de remettre au nom du Président 🇫🇷 @EmmanuelMacron , les insignes de l’Ordre national de la Légion d’Honneur à Oksana Zaboujko et Oleg Sentsov, personnalités emblématiques et éminentes 🇺🇦. pic.twitter.com/uVm7HoeAGm
— La France en Ukraine 🇨🇵🇪🇺 (@FranceenUkraine) July 14, 2023
"Zabuzhko is a Ukrainian writer, known all over the world, who fights for the protection of the Ukrainian language and culture", and "Sentsov is a film director, a political prisoner of the Kremlin for five years, who was released in September 2019 and is now bravely fighting at the front," the French ambassador said in a video message.
Etienne de Ponsin added that Sentsov received a concussion in battle last weekend but will be able to attend the award ceremony.
"Their names are well known in France and Europe; they are both currently fighting for the freedom and independence of Ukraine. Mrs Zabuzhko is on the literature front, and Mr Sentsov is on the battlefield," the ambassador noted.
The Order of the Legion of Honour is the highest award in France, founded in 1802 on the example of chivalric orders. The president awards it for military or civilian merit. Among the Ukrainians who have been awarded this distinction are the artist Ivan Aivazovskyi; Borys Hudziak, the president of the Ukrainian Catholic University; Serge Lifar, the dancer and choreographer; Ukrainian philosopher Myroslav Popovych; Anatolyi Zlenko, the first minister of foreign affairs of independent Ukraine; and others. Last year, Ukrainian poetess Lina Kostenko was awarded the Legion of Honour.
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