This medal celebrates the heroic deeds and resilience of the residents of the city of ships, Mykolaiv, which became a stronghold blocking the path of the russian invaders in southern Ukraine. From the first days of the full-scale invasion, russian troops tried to capture Mykolaiv. After several unsuccessful assaults, encirclement attempts and attempts to take control of Mykolaiv Airport and Kulbakyne Aerodrome, the invaders began to bombard and shell the city, shattering people’s lives and damaging the city – many buildings were not only damaged, but completely destroyed. By joining efforts and supporting each other, the residents are holding out, defending and restoring their city. In these difficult times, they are also protecting the city’s living landmark – Mykolaiv Zoo.

Obverse: above is the legend 2023/УКРАЇНА (2023/Ukraine); beneath is Ukraine’s small coat of arms; in the center, against the backdrop of a stylized map of the city, are the following lines from Lina Kostenko’s historical novel “Berestechko”: Я ЗНАЮ ГРАМОТУ СВОБОДИ – / ЇЇ ПІДПИСУЮТЬ МЕЧІ! / ЛІНА КОСТЕНКО (I KNOW THE CHARTER OF FREEDOM – / IT IS SIGNED WITH SWORDS) / LINA KOSTENKO; there is a stylized composition that shows that Mykolaiv is a city of shipbuilding and a seaport; to the right is the building of Mykolaiv Shipbuilding Museum (the only one of its kind in Ukraine); to the left is the mint mark of the NBU’s Banknote Printing and Minting Works.

Reverse: against a smooth background is the legend МИКОЛАЇВ/МІСТО ГЕРОЇВ (Mykolaiv/City of Heroes), which divides the medal into two halves; in the upper half, against a smooth background, is a composition symbolizing people’s resistance to russian occupation in the face of the considerable damage suffered by the city; the lower half depicts a stylized view of the city as seen in perspective; it shows the city’s historical and archeological monuments.

This medal celebrates the heroic deeds, mass heroism and resilience of the residents of Chernihiv, which was continually shelled from the first hours of the russian invasion of Ukraine. Chernihiv – one of the oldest cities of Ukraine – was one of the first places which enemy troops tried to capture. But thanks to the joint resistance of all defense units, the invaders failed to seize the city. After unsuccessful attempts to capture Chernihiv, russian forces blew up bridges and began to raze the city to the ground – shelling damaged a great deal of civilian infrastructure, including schools and kindergartens, while also completely destroying many residential buildings. For a long time, Chernihiv had no electricity, water, heat and gas supply. There were also food shortages, but city residents stayed strong thanks to their joint efforts and mutual support.

Obverse: above is the legend 2023/УКРАЇНА (2023/Ukraine); beneath is Ukraine’s small coat of arms; in the center, against the backdrop of a stylized map of the city, are the following lines from Lina Kostenko’s poetry: ШМАТОК ЗЕМЛІ, ТИ ЗВЕШСЯ УКРАЇНОЮ./ ТИ БУВ ДО НАС. ТИ БУДЕШ ПІСЛЯ НАС./ ЛІНА КОСТЕНКО (A PIECE OF LAND, YOU ARE CALLED UKRAINE./ YOU EXISTED BEFORE US. AND YOU WILL CONTINUE TO EXIST ONCE WE ARE GONE./LINA KOSTENKO; there is also a stylized composition made of historical and religious monuments; to the left is the mint mark of the NBU’s Banknote Printing and Minting Works.

Reverse: against a smooth background is the legend ЧЕРНІГІВ/МІСТО ГЕРОЇВ (Chernihiv/City of Heroes), which divides the medal into two halves; in the upper half, against a smooth background, is a composition symbolizing people’s resistance to russian occupation in the face of the damage suffered by the city; the lower half depicts a stylized view of the city’s historical monuments as seen in perspective.

This medal celebrates a city that bore the brunt of the attack and was surrounded by russian troops from the first days of the full-scale invasion. Despite suffering numerous airstrikes and missile attacks, the city put up such fierce and heroic resistance that the enemy failed to capture it. Okhtyrka withstood assault and became an impregnable outpost against the further advance of the enemy army into Sloboda Ukraine (northeast Ukraine), and deeper into the country. Despite intense pressure from the enemy and the destruction of 80% of the city’s infrastructure, people without heat, water and electricity found the strength again and again to clear the city of the debris from bombings and bring its liberation closer.

Obverse: above, against the background of a stylized shining sun with bolts of lighting (symbolizing punishment for the invaders), is Ukraine’s small coat of arms, under which are a bird that stands for liberation and the following semicircular legends: УКРАЇНА (Ukraine) (to the left) and ОХТИРКА (Okhtyrka) (to the right); beneath is a stylized composition: the city being bombed by the enemy; to the right is a track of a missile hitting the city council; to the left is a residential building behind which a child is playing; against the backdrop of the composition is the legend 2023/МІСТО/ГЕРОЇВ (2023/city/of heroes); to the right is the mint mark of the NBU’s Banknote Printing and Minting Works.

Reverse: against a smooth background is a stylized composition that stands for the present as seen through the prism of the novel “Tiger Trappers” written by an author who was born in Okhtyrka; the novel praises courage and the ability to win: a Ukrainian soldier is a modern trapper of predators; above the solder is a shining sun; there are the following legends: СМІЛИВІ (courageous people), (vertical, to the left), ЗАВЖДИ (always) (above) МАЮТЬ (have) (to the right) ЩАСТЯ (happiness) (beneath).

This medal celebrates the heroic deeds, widespread acts of heroism and resilience that residents of Volnovakha displayed during the defense of the city from russian attacks. Volnovakha has been at war since May 2014, while during the full-scale invasion the city found itself on the front line, where fierce fighting was taking place. The city, which lies on important routes connecting Mariupol with Donetsk and with Zaporizhzhia, was a tasty morsel for the invaders. Relentless airstrikes and artillery shelling destroyed all of the city’s infrastructure, leaving the city practically wiped off the map, and occupied.

Obverse: above is the semicircular legend УКРАЇНА (Ukraine), under which are Ukraine’s small coat of arms and the medal’s issue year – 2023 (vertical, against the backdrop of a map); in the center, against a smooth background, is the legend МІСТО/ВОЛНОВАХА/ГЕРОЇВ (city/Volnovakha/heroes); in the word Volnovakha, the Ukrainian letter “н” is replaced with a fragment of railway tracks, which reach Ukraine’s small coat of arms and stands for the city’s desire to return home, to Ukraine; there are also stylized fragments of maps of Donetsk (above) and Mariupol (below); beneath, to the right is the mint mark of the NBU’s Banknote Printing and Minting Works.

Reverse: there is the following stylized composition: an image of a Ukrainian soldier (to the left) and stylized elements of Volnovakha’s coat of arms: against the backdrop of a curved line (symbolizing Volnovakha’s location in one of the highest places of the Azov Upland) and a wavy line with fountains (standing for the Volnovakha River, the name of which is derived from the large number of springs in the area), are a flying bird and its reflection on a smooth background, symbolizing people’s confidence that the city will be liberated.

This banknote celebrates the resilience, indomitability, heroism and fortitude that Ukrainians show in their struggle against the russian invaders. On 24 February 2022, russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine by declaring a “special military operation.” The actions of the aggressor country, which is brutally killing large numbers of civilians, mercilessly shelling and launching airstrikes on the country and destroying infrastructure and populated areas, are shocking the entire civilized world! Ukraine is defending its independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity and the right to life! Its victory will be a victory of goodness, justice and democracy, and a victory of light over darkness! This 20-hryvnia banknote, which was designed in 2023, bears the signature of Andriy Pyshnyy, Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine. It has the series ЗС, with serial numbers from 0000001 to 0300000. The banknote is sized 80 x 165 mm, and has security features that are incorporated in other circulating banknotes and additional optically variable security features. The main image of the front of the note depicts Ukrainian soldiers who are hoisting a Ukrainian state flag (photo entitled “Ukrainian soldiers are hoisting a flag” by Oleksandr Smirnov) against the backdrop of fragments of a map of Ukraine and the flags of the countries that support Ukraine.

Above are the following texts (with a laurel wreath between them) in Ukrainian and English: 24 ЛЮТОГО 2022 РОКУ / ПОВНОМАСШТАБНИМ ВТОРГНЕННЯМ / РОСІЙСЬКОЇ АРМІЇ РОЗПОЧАВСЯ НОВИЙ ЕТАП / ЗБРОЙНОЇ АГРЕСІЇ ПРОТИ УКРАЇНИ. / НАРОДНА ВІЙНА ЗА НЕЗАЛЕЖНІСТЬ І / СУВЕРЕНІТЕТ УКРАЇНИ ТРИВАЄ З 2014 РОКУ. / ЦЕ ТАКОЖ ВІЙНА ЗА ЦИВІЛІЗАЦІЙНИЙ ВИБІР: / УКРАЇНА ВІДСТОЮЄ СВОЮ ПРИНАЛЕЖНІСТЬ / ДО ЄВРОПЕЙСЬКОЇ ЦИВІЛІЗАЦІЇ І ВОДНОЧАС – / ТІ ЗАСАДНИЧІ ЦІННОСТІ, ПРАВА / І СВОБОДИ, ЩО ЛЕЖАТЬ В ОСНОВІ / ЗАХІДНОГО СВІТУ. (to the left); ON 24 FEBRUARY 2022, / A NEW STAGE OF ARMED AGGRESSION AGAINST / UKRAINE BEGAN WITH A FULL-SCALE INVASION / OF UKRAINE BY THE RUSSIAN ARMY. / THE PEOPLE’S WAR FOR THE INDEPENDENCE / AND SOVEREIGNTY OF UKRAINE HAS BEEN / GOING ON SINCE 2014. THIS IS ALSO A WAR FOR / A CIVILIZATIONAL CHOICE: UKRAINE IS DEFENDING / ITS PLACE IN EUROPEAN CIVILIZATION, AND AT THE / SAME TIME FIGHTING FOR THE FUNDAMENTAL / VALUES, RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS THAT UNDERPIN / THE WESTERN WORLD. (to the right). To the left is the legend УКРАЇНА (Ukraine), below which is Ukraine’s small coat of arms. Under the laurel wreath are the legend І НА ОНОВЛЕНІЙ ЗЕМЛІ ВРАГА НЕ БУДЕ... (And on the renovated land, there’ll be no enemy...) and a polymer thread containing the shoulder patch of Ukraine’s Armed Forces, the emblem of Ukraine’s Armed Forces and the legend СЛАВА УКРАЇНІ / ГЕРОЯМ СЛАВА (Glory to Ukraine / Glory to the Heroes). Against the backdrop of a blue band is the logotype of the National Bank of Ukraine, while the signature of Andriy Pyshnyy and the legend ГОЛОВА (governor) are against the background of a yellow band. The banknote’s face value 20 is beneath to the left, while the vertical legend ДВАДЦЯТЬ / ГРИВЕНЬ (twenty / hryvnias) is to the right of the soldiers. Beneath is a stylized steppe with poppies symbolizing Ukraine’s dead defenders.

The main image of the back of the note is a stylized composition that symbolizes the physical and mental suffering of Ukrainians under occupation – hands tied behind a person’s back, against the background of crumpled cloth, behind which a figure with a bullet wound in the form of a poppy is suggested (designed by Serhii Mishakin); on both sides of the cloth are stylized wings made from candle flames; above, against the backdrop of the outlines of destroyed houses is a crown of thorns that stands for martyrdom; to the right of the crown is a security feature – a colored composition consisting of a guelder rose and an anti-tank hedgehog. Under the crown of thorns is the legend ПАМ’ЯТАЄМО! НЕ ПРОБАЧИМО! НІКОЛИ! (We will not forget! We will not forgive! Never!); to the left is the vertical legend ДВАДЦЯТЬ ГРИВЕНЬ (twenty hryvnias); the banknote’s serial number consisting of the two-letter series ЗС and a seven-digit number is printed twice (along the upper and the right sides of the note); the note’s face value 20 is in the center; to the right is the legend 2023; the note also depicts a kind of illusion – stylized poppies that stand for bloody bullet wounds.