This year’s laureate of the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought is the “Brave People of Ukraine represented by its President, elected leaders and civil society,” the European Parliament announced on Wednesday, Reuters and Agerpres reported.

The decision was made by the Conference of Presidents, formed by the President of the EP and leaders of political groups, which was announced on Wednesday by Roberta Metzola.

The brave people of Ukraine, represented by the president, elected leaders and civil society, were nominated by the European People’s Party.

The unprovoked Russian-aggressor war against Ukraine, launched in February 2022, has a huge price for the Ukrainian people: lost lives, destroyed cities and villages. Ukrainians fight to defend their homes, sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, but they also fight every day for freedom, democracy, the rule of law and European values, the nomination shows.

The award ceremony will take place on December 14 in the Strasbourg Semicircle.

Other finalists were Julian Assange, one of the activists of WikiLeaks and the Colombian Truth Commission.

The annual Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought has been awarded since 1988 to individuals and organizations fighting for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It is named after the Soviet physicist and dissident Andriy Sakharov, and the value of the prize is 50,000 euros.

Last year, the Russian dissident Oleksii Navalny received the award for his fight against corruption and human rights violations by the Kremlin.