Description

Kharkiv – City of Heroes

This medal celebrates the heroic, proud and unconquered city of Kharkiv. The city, which since the first days of the full-scale russian invasion of Ukraine has been subjected to mass terror attacks – bombings, shelling, the destruction of residential buildings and infrastructure, the loss of human life in the city and the entire oblast – still continues to resist the enemy. Kharkiv is a city of heroes who proved to the entire world that they can endure hardship: babies are born, students are taught, and the economy of the city adapts to the war conditions, to the sound of explosions. A lot of entrepreneurs have changed their business lines and put their businesses in what they call “military mode.” The city’s cultural figures, artists, poets, writers and activists are fighting on their own frontline. The lightning counteroffensive in Kharkiv oblast fulfilled its strategic goal – it changed the course of the war and was one of the first significant successes of Ukraine’s Armed Forces on the way to the complete restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity.

Obverse: above is the legend 2022/УКРАЇНА (2022/Ukraine); beneath is Ukraine’s small coat of arms; in the center is the following composition: against the backdrop of a stylized map of the city are the following lines from Lina Kostenko’s historical novel “Berestechko”: ЧИ СПРАВДІ ВІРИВ Я У ПЕРЕМОГУ/В ТАКІЙ ТЯЖКІЙ НЕРІВНІЙ БОРОТЬБІ?/ТАК, ВІРИВ Я. НАЙПЕРШЕ ВІРИВ – БОГУ./І ВІРИВ ЛЮДЯМ. ЛЮДЯМ І СОБІ./ЛІНА КОСТЕНКО (DID I REALLY BELIEVE IN VICTORY/IN SUCH A HARD, UNEQUAL FIGHT?/YES, I DID. FIRST OF ALL I BELIEVED IN GOD./AND I BELIEVED IN PEOPLE. IN PEOPLE AND IN MYSELF./LINA KOSTENKO; there is a collage consisting of the city’s famous sights: Kharkiv’s monument to Taras Shevchenko – one of the best examples of monumental art (to the left), the Derzhprom building – a UNESCO World Heritage Site built in the 1920s in the Constructivist style, and the Mirror Stream – a gazebo fountain, which is among the city’s modern highlights; to the left, above the monument is the mint mark of the NBU’s Banknote Printing and Minting Works.

Reverse: against a smooth background is the legend ХАРКІВ /МІСТО ГЕРОЇВ (Kharkiv – City of Heroes), with the letter I in the word Kharkiv made to look like a candle; the legend divides the medal into two parts that have a common idea: the upper part depicts buildings that have been battered and mutilated by artillery shells and bombs; the lower part features a stylized view of the city as seen in perspective, showing the city’s historical monuments and Cuman stone women from Kremenets Mount near the city of Izium – monuments of sacred art dating back to the 9th–13th centuries.