A Photo Exhibition “Grateful for Freedom!” Opened at TNMU

On February 20, 2026, the solemn opening of a photo exhibition dedicated to the events of the Revolution of Dignity and honoring the memory of the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred took place at Ternopil National Medical University.

The photographs were kindly provided by participants of those events: photographer Mykola Vasylechko; Associate Professor of the Department of Pediatric Diseases with Pediatric Surgery, Head of the Volunteer Center of the NGO “Medics of Maidan,” Tamara Vorontsova; and Head of the Communications and Marketing Department, Associate Professor Nadiia Oliinyk.

The exhibition opened with memories of those tragic days in Ukraine’s history, shared by Associate Professor Marta Rudenko, Head of the Center for Educational Work and Cultural Development. The university chaplain, Fr. Ihor Drapak, spoke about his family’s participation in the Maidan events and called for a joint prayer for the innocent knights of the Heavenly Hundred. Tamara Vorontsova and her colleagues — Inha Kubei, Sofiia Levenets, and Petro Levytskyi — shared their memories of working in the Maidan medical unit. The guests encouraged students to work tirelessly, study diligently, and do everything possible to preserve our language and statehood.

The exhibition will run for a month and can be visited on the 4th floor in the foyer of the university’s administrative building.

Based on materials from the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory.

This day was established by the Decree of the President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, on February 11, 2015, in order to commemorate the great human, civic, and national courage and self-sacrifice, the strength of spirit and resilience of citizens who changed the course of our state’s history, and to duly honor the feat of the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred who gave their lives during the Revolution of Dignity (November 2013 – February 2014), defending the ideals of democracy, standing up for human rights and freedoms, and advocating for Ukraine’s European future.

On February 20, 2014, the largest number of people — 48 — were killed in the center of Ukraine’s capital. Together with 54 other protesters who were killed or fatally wounded during the peaceful protests throughout the winter of 2013–2014, as well as five Maidan activists who died in the spring of 2014 defending democratic values and Ukraine’s territorial integrity, they were named the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred.

The name “Heavenly Hundred” arose by analogy with the main structural units of the Maidan Self-Defense forces — the “hundreds.” It first appeared during the farewell ceremony for the fallen on Kyiv’s Independence Square on February 21–22, 2014. Poems by the poets Liudmyla Maksymliuk and Tetiana Domashenko, dated February 21, used the phrase “Heavenly Hundred.” The following day, the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred were already being spoken of on the Maidan stage and written about on online platforms.

The Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred include people of different nationalities, faiths, education levels, and ages. Among them are citizens of Ukraine, Belarus, and Georgia. The youngest Hero, Nazarii Voitovych, was 17; the oldest, Ivan Nakonechnyi, was 82. Of the 107 Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred, three were women: Antonina Dvorianets, Olha Bura, and Liudmyla Sheremet.