Dr Mridula Ghosh, academic and THE WEEK’s columnist from Ukraine, was awarded the Order of Merit on August 24, the 34th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence. She received the medal from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a ceremony in St Sophia Square, Kyiv. Prime Minister of Canada, Mike Carney, was the chief guest at the Independence Day celebrations.
Ghosh is board chair of the East European Development Institute and associate professor of International Relations at the National University of Kyiv Mohyla Academy. Her on-ground was instrumental in THE WEEK’s cover story on Ukraine, dated August 13, 2023. Editor Philip Mathew congratulated Ghosh on the honour and thanked her for her continued support.
Among the foreign nationals honoured by Ukraine were Keith Kellogg, the US president’s special representative to Ukraine. Kellogg was awarded a star of the Order of Merit, the highest degree of the order.
The Order of Merit, Ukraine
The Order of Merit has three classes and can be awarded to both civilians and members of the uniformed services. The order is preceded by The Order of Prince Yaroslav the Wise and succeeded by The Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky in the Ukrainian honours system.
Ghosh received the civilian honour in the third degree. Pastor John Mark Burns, who is an evangelical Christian pastor and a supporter of US President Donald Trump, too, was awarded the order in the third degree.
The order’s ribbon is a deep red, with blue and yellow asymmetric stripes denoting Ukrainian colours. The award in the third degree has a silvery medal with a dark cross on which the Ukrainian trident, or tryzub, is emblazoned, within a gold wreath.