Zelenskyy awards Order of Merit to pensioner from Chernivtsi Oblast who donated life savings of over US$10,000 to Ukraine's Armed Forces

A pensioner from Chernivtsi Oblast donated all his savings to help the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the beginning of the full-scale invasion.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has awarded him the Order of Merit, as stated in a presidential decree.

"I decree: that the Order of Merit, third class, be awarded to Mykola Hryhorovych Shevchuk, a pensioner from Chernivtsi Oblast, for civic courage and self-sacrifice shown during the defence of Ukraine's state sovereignty and territorial integrity under martial law, and loyalty to the Ukrainian people," the presidential decree of 21 November stated. 

In March 2022, 82-year-old Mykola Shevchuk donated US$10,000 and UAH 100,000 to Ukraine’s Armed Forces - a total amount of UAH 400,000 (about US$10,912). He had been saving this money for 10 years.

Mykola Shevchuk lives in Novodnistrovsk, Chernivtsi Oblast. He has a small garden where he grows vegetables. He buys his clothes at flea markets, so 2,000 hryvnias (about US$54) per month is enough for him, he told Suspilne [a Ukrainian news agency - ed.].

In late July, 85-year-old Mykola Ivanovych from Sumy sold his apartment and donated US$35,000 to help the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

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