Yesterday, an event of great significance for Cyprus, Europe, and Ukraine took place at the Nicosia Municipal Theatre — European Heritage Awards Ceremony 2026, Europe’s most prestigious awards in the field of cultural heritage.
The event, attended by the President of Cyprus, Nikos Christodoulides, was also attended by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to the Republic of Cyprus, Dr.Serhii Nizhynskyi.
Five winners out of thirty laureates received the Grand Prix of the European Cultural Heritage Summit 2026. The audience rose to its feet to applaud Ukraine as the Grand Prix in the “Heritage Champions” category was posthumously awarded to Maryna Hrytsenko.
Maryna Hrytsenko (1986–2025) was the Chief Curator of the Halahan Art Museum in Chernihiv. At the beginning of the full-scale war in 2022, she single-handedly dismantled the museum exhibitions and protected more than 17,000 artifacts in an underground shelter. In 2023, she joined the army as a paramedic and was killed in 2025 while evacuating wounded soldiers.
Maryna was also a member of Plast, the Ukrainian scouting organization. Therefore, when her name was announced, representatives of Plast Cyprus came onto the stage. The Grand Prix was presented to Maryna’s daughter.
Applause for Ukraine echoed through the hall two more times during the evening, as among the laureates were Olena Afanasieva from Kherson, recognized for her work preserving the heritage of Polina Raiko, as well as the volunteers of the “Museum Open for Renovation” project, who evacuated more than two million museum artifacts from frontline territories.