The President of the European Parliament ,

, announced the laureate of 2022 in the hall of plenary meetings in Strasbourg after the decision of the conference of the presidents of the parliament (president and leaders of political groups).

"This is a reward for those Ukrainians who are fighting on the ground.

For those who were forced to run.

For those who have lost relatives and friends.

For all those who stand up and fight for what they believe in.

I know that the courageous people of Ukraine will not give up, and neither will we," she said.

Russia's unprovoked aggressive war against Ukraine is causing huge losses to the Ukrainian people.

Not only are they fighting to defend their homes, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, but they are also defending freedom, democracy, the rule of law and European values ​​on the battlefields "against a brutal regime that seeks to undermine our democracy, weaken and divide our Union", - said the MEPs.

The nomination emphasizes the efforts of the President of Ukraine, Uladzimir Zelensky, together with the role of individuals, representatives of civil society initiatives, state and public institutions, including the State Service for Emergency Situations of Ukraine, Yulia Paevskaya, the founder of the evacuation medical center "Angels of Tire", Aleksandra Matviychuk, the head of the organization "Civil Liberties Center" Civil resistance movement "Yellow Ribbon" and Ivan Fedorov, mayor of the Ukrainian city of Melitopol, which is currently under Russian occupation.

The Sakharov Prize will be awarded on December 14 in Strasbourg.

The Sakharov Prize "For Freedom of Thought" is awarded annually by the European Parliament.

It was founded in 1988 to honor individuals and organizations that defend human rights and fundamental freedoms.

The award is named after the Soviet physicist and political dissident Andrei Sakharov, the amount of the award is 50,000 euros.

The list of nominees for 2022 also included WikiLeaks founder

, the Colombian Truth Commission, Brazilian activist

and Al Jazeera journalist

, who died in May 2022.

Last year, the parliament awarded the prize to the Russian opposition politician and anti-corruption

In 2004, the Belarusian Association of Journalists was honored with this award, in 2006 - politician, ex-candidate for the President of Belarus

, in 2020 - the democratic opposition of Belarus represented by the Coordination Council.