President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy awarded French journalist Antoni Lallikan (he was killed by a drone while covering the Russo-Ukrainian war) and Ukrainian photographer Kostyantyn Huzenko posthumously with orders of merit.
The corresponding decree was published on the President’s official website.
The awards were given “for significant personal contributions to the development of television, radio broadcasting, and communications in Ukraine, for high professionalism and dedication demonstrated while covering the events of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and for many years of conscientious work.”
French journalist Antony Lallikan from the Hans Lucas agency and the late Ukrainian photographer Kostyantyn Huzenko were posthumously awarded the Order of Merit, 3rd class.
Lallikan was killed by a Russian FPV drone strike in Donetsk in early October 2025. Journalist and photographer Heorhiy Ivanchenko, who was working with him at the scene, was injured.
The same orders were also awarded to Freedom TV employees — journalist Olena Hubanova and cameraman Yevhen Karmazin — who were both killed by a Russian drone strike in late October in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region. A farewell ceremony for the journalists took place in Kyiv on October 27.
