This medal celebrates the heroic deeds, mass heroism and resilience of the residents of Chernihiv, which was continually shelled from the first hours of the russian invasion of Ukraine. Chernihiv – one of the oldest cities of Ukraine – was one of the first places which enemy troops tried to capture. But thanks to the joint resistance of all defense units, the invaders failed to seize the city. After unsuccessful attempts to capture Chernihiv, russian forces blew up bridges and began to raze the city to the ground – shelling damaged a great deal of civilian infrastructure, including schools and kindergartens, while also completely destroying many residential buildings. For a long time, Chernihiv had no electricity, water, heat and gas supply. There were also food shortages, but city residents stayed strong thanks to their joint efforts and mutual support.

Obverse: above is the legend 2023/УКРАЇНА (2023/Ukraine); beneath is Ukraine’s small coat of arms; in the center, against the backdrop of a stylized map of the city, are the following lines from Lina Kostenko’s poetry: ШМАТОК ЗЕМЛІ, ТИ ЗВЕШСЯ УКРАЇНОЮ./ ТИ БУВ ДО НАС. ТИ БУДЕШ ПІСЛЯ НАС./ ЛІНА КОСТЕНКО (A PIECE OF LAND, YOU ARE CALLED UKRAINE./ YOU EXISTED BEFORE US. AND YOU WILL CONTINUE TO EXIST ONCE WE ARE GONE./LINA KOSTENKO; there is also a stylized composition made of historical and religious monuments; to the left is the mint mark of the NBU’s Banknote Printing and Minting Works.

Reverse: against a smooth background is the legend ЧЕРНІГІВ/МІСТО ГЕРОЇВ (Chernihiv/City of Heroes), which divides the medal into two halves; in the upper half, against a smooth background, is a composition symbolizing people’s resistance to russian occupation in the face of the damage suffered by the city; the lower half depicts a stylized view of the city’s historical monuments as seen in perspective.