The award ceremony for the "Generation Nika" took place in Kharkiv, commemorating the memory of the 18-year-old artist Veronika Kozushko. The event was held in the cozy basement of the Mykola Lysenko National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet.

Sofia Fadeyeva won in the "Painting" category, while Liliya Polyvoda triumphed in literature. Both received 40,000 hryvnias, a statuette, and a diploma, as reported by Gvara Media.

Sofia Syzonenko received a special award from the "Aza Nizi Maza" art studio, along with a prize of 5,555 hryvnias.

Notable jurors included Igor Kozushko, Veronika's father, Sergey Zhadan, Tatyana Pylypchuk, the director of the Kharkiv Literary Museum, artist Oleg Kalashnyk, and musician Yevhen Turchynov.

About the Winners

16-year-old Liliya Polyvoda from Sumy writes poetry under the pseudonym Liliya Vingranovska. She began writing at the age of 12 and is now preparing for university.

Sofia Fadeyeva is 17 years old and originally from Donetsk, but she relocated to Kyiv in 2014. She loves graphic art and painting, creating illustrations that tell unique stories.

According to the award organizers, 170 works were submitted from Ukraine and abroad.

"We were surprised by the number of applicants. A total of 170 applications passed the technical selection, predominantly from literature. There were many submissions from 16-year-olds, but even more from older artists," commented Tatyana Pylypchuk, the director of the Literary Museum.

The "Generation Nika" award is dedicated to the memory of Veronika Kozushko, who tragically lost her life in a Russian missile attack.

During the award ceremony, a collection of poems, prose excerpts, and drawings by the late artist titled "Time to Start the Tango" was presented. The anthology was organized by Sergey Zhadan, with a foreword by him and an afterword by the Kharkiv artist Hamlet Zinkivskyi. The book was published by "Folio".

Veronika's father shared that following her death, he received an offer from Germany to display her original paintings, but he declined as they would need to be given away permanently. While a book of her works has been published, he noted that some of her art remains unpublished.

The award ceremony concluded with a concert by the band "Zhadan and Dogs".

Veronika Kozushko was an artist and poet. She studied at the Kharkiv National University of Radioelectronics and was a volunteer at the Literary Museum, actively participating in Kharkiv's cultural life.

The 18-year-old artist promoted Ukrainian culture by painting bags with portraits of Ukrainian writers and creating illustrations for verses by Sergey Zhadan and Mykhail Semenko.

In 2022, one of her illustrations was included in a collection for Brian May's album, the guitarist of Queen.

Unfortunately, Veronika was killed on August 30 due to a Russian attack on Kharkiv.