As the Crimean Tatar Resource Center reported on March 23, over the entire period of existence of distinctions and the title of “Hero of Ukraine”, they were awarded to more than 700 people, including 9 Crimeans.
At the same time, with the beginning of Russian aggression and the occupation of the Crimea, some bearers of this, without exaggeration, the most important title, unfortunately, showed themselves not at all from the heroic side.
So, Borys Deich, who received the title in 2013, criminally supported the occupation of the Crimea and took part in the criminal “referendum” on March 16, 2014. Fevzi Yakubov, who received the title in 2004, in 2015 criminally called on the Crimean Tatar youth not to participate in organizations and events directed against the Russian occupation of Crimea. Mykola Bagrov, who received the title in 2007, criminally welcomed occupation of the Crimea.
These holders of the title have already departed to another world, but among the Crimean residents there are still those who today have this highest state award of Ukraine and at the same time help the occupiers to destroy Ukraine and destroy Ukrainians. In particular, we are talking about Alexander Batalin, who received the title in August 2012. On June 12, 2014, he became a member of the illegal “public chamber” of the occupiers, and a “member” of “United Russia”, and now the “Fiolent” plant, which he has been “running” illegally, ensures the production for the aggressor’s military industry.
The Crimean Tatar Resource Center called for depriving all collaborators of this title. Moreover, human rights activists point out that we already have a precedent for depriving the title of “Hero of Ukraine” as part of the application of sanctions to a person. By the way, the only person who was thus deprived of the title of “Hero of Ukraine” was also the Crimean collaborator from “Massandra” Mykola Boyko: by decree of the President of Ukraine No. 265/2021 in 2021, personal sanctions were applied to him in the form of deprivation of state awards.
Therefore, human rights activists publicly called on the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine to pay attention to the criminal activities of the aforementioned Batalin and apply personal sanctions to him in the form of deprivation of state awards.
It should be noted that today in Ukraine a practically effective mechanism for the deprivation of state awards, honorary titles, and so on can be exactly sanctions mechanisms: the practice of deprivation in criminal proceedings or by a “regular” decree of the President remains ambiguous
