By Decree of the President of Ukraine No. 513/20243, titled “On Awarding State Awards of Ukraine on the Occasion of Independence Day,” Iryna Babych, a nurse at Kobelyaky City Hospital in Poltava Oblast and a veteran of the Pirogov First Volunteer Mobile Hospital (PDMSh), has been honored with the Medal for Lifesaving.
We sincerely congratulate Iryna on this well-deserved recognition!
Iryna, known as “Poltava,” joined PDMSh nine years ago, but she began her journey as a volunteer medic during the Revolution of Dignity.
“I arrived amidst the gunfire on the Maidan,” Iryna told Dzerkalo Tyzhnya last March. “I had heard that there were hostilities. I went to help, and once you start, you realize you can’t turn back.”
After Russia attacked Ukraine in 2014, she sought ways to contribute to the war effort and ultimately joined PDMSh. From 2015 to 2017, during the intense battles in the Anti-Terrorist Operation area, “Poltava” served as a volunteer medic at the front lines.
On the first day of the full-scale Russian invasion—February 24, 2022—Iryna went to a recruitment center and joined a Territorial Defense unit, where she was “assigned to the kitchen.” So, after three months, she resigned and returned to PDMSh the very next day.
The Medal for Lifesaving is not Iryna Babych's first honor. Her list of awards includes:
- Award from the President of Ukraine “For Humanitarian Participation in ATO”
- Award from the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine—Honorary Badge “For Assistance to the Army”
- Award from the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine—Honorary Badge “For Life Saved”
- Award from the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine—Medal for Assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine
- Award from the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine
- Award from the Commander of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine