Ukrainian Iryna Danylovych receives the Platform of European Memory and Conscience Award

Iryna Danylovych, a Kremlin prisoner, has been awarded the 2025 European Memory and Conscience Platform International Award. The Ukrainian human rights activist, journalist and nurse from occupied Crimea received the prize in recognition of her ‘exceptional civic courage and unwavering defence of human dignity during the Russian occupation’. Iryna has been a Kremlin captive since 29 April 2022, when she was abducted and subsequently illegally sentenced by an occupation court to seven years’ imprisonment.

As the Platform emphasises, despite surveillance, threats, abductions and torture, Danylovych has shown unwavering determination in exposing injustice and revealing the truth. Iryna and her commitment to democratic values in one of Europe’s most repressive environments are a symbol of resistance and moral fortitude.

“When the truth becomes dangerous, those who speak it become targets. This award is not only a tribute to Iryna’s courage, but also a call to protect every journalist persecuted for exposing injustice. Iryna Danylovych reminds us that even in the darkest places, one voice can shed light on the truth,” said Marek Mutor, the president of the platform.

The Platform of European Memory and Conscience is an international project aimed at investigating the crimes of totalitarian regimes in Europe in the 20th century and preventing the restoration of totalitarianism. The Holodomor Museum has been a member of the organisation since 2015.

As a reminder, in 2023, another Ukrainian was honoured with the Platform Award – Dmytro Khyliuk, a journalist who was being held captive in Russia at the time (he returned home during an exchange on 24 August 2025).