"How can it be that I am Hero of Ukraine, but Da Vinci is not?": On Ada Rohovtseva’s role in awarding Dmytro Kotsiubailo title
Ada Rohovtseva’s question marked the beginning of efforts to resolve the matter of awarding volunteer Dmytro Kotsiubailo, callsign Da Vinci, the country’s highest state honor. The People’s Artist addressed these words to Valerii Zaluzhnyi, who, together with his wife, found time to attend the performance "It Looks Like Happiness" and speak with his favorite actress afterward. But first things first.
It was November 2021. Several times before that, I had invited Valerii Fedorovych and his wife to attend performances featuring Ada Rohovtseva. But he had never managed to make it. Understandably, given how busy he was, it was not easy to carve out time and be at the theater by 5:00 or 6:00 p.m. That was precisely when meetings and briefings were usually held... But we agreed that I would let him know whenever such opportunities arose. Perhaps one day he would manage to come. And eventually, everything worked out.
At the small, very intimate Suziria Theater near the Golden Gate, Valerii Fedorovych was eagerly awaited on November 26, 2021. It seemed that everything would fall through this time as well, that something would get in the way and the Zaluzhnyis would be unable to come. But a miracle happened: they arrived, took their seats in the auditorium, and enjoyed the performance.
That morning, I had returned from Avdiivka, and in the afternoon, Hero of Ukraine Vasyl Tarasiuk and I had to make it to a meeting with the national football team’s players. By evening, I was already tired and on edge because, yet again, my car would not start—the battery was dead. Then Ada Mykolaivna’s daughter Katia called and insisted:
- Go to the theater. The second act is underway and will end in half an hour. We can all talk together afterward.
I became irritated and angry:
- Katia, what do you need me there for? Everything is fine. You can talk without me... My car won’t start. I have just come off the train and look like a homeless person...
- Take a taxi and come! I’m begging you, - Katia knows how to persuade and apply pressure. Time has proven that. But I resisted too:
- But we don’t even know each other. Only from a distance.
- Then you’ll finally meet. It’s important! Come.
I took a taxi and arrived as the audience was already leaving the theater. I went up to the office of the theater’s director, Oleksii Kuzhelnyi, and found a tableau worthy of a separate performance. Ada Mykolaivna herself had been eagerly awaiting this guest, as she had long wanted to meet him in person and get a sense of the man commanding the army. Valerii Fedorovych and his wife, holding glasses of cognac, were gazing at her adoringly.
I should note from the outset that the Commander-in-Chief was in civilian clothes—a blue suit that suited him very well. That is not always the case. So he allowed himself 50 drops. Also present were Svitlana Orlichenko, the actress who performs alongside Ada Mykolaivna, and the production’s director, who also happens to be Ada Mykolaivna’s daughter, Katia.
Ada was delighted to see me because she was just telling the Commander-in-Chief about our trips to the war zone:
- Kirtoka will now tell you exactly where we were, what kind of place it was where, for the first time in ages, they made me put on a bulletproof vest and even tried to make me wear a helmet. What for? I could have broken under all that armor. Besides, there had been no need to wear any of it for a long time. But this time, they said we were very close to the front line. Where was it? Kirtokochka?
My blood ran cold. I could not disclose exactly where we had been because the brigade commander whose area of responsibility we were in did not know where the actress had gone after her performance in Avdiivka. The young officers who had allowed us to enter those locations could have received reprimands or worse.
I have never been short of audacity, so I replied:
- General, forgive me, but I cannot tell you exactly where we were!
- Then don’t. You can tell me someday. Violetta, I give you permission to go wherever you consider necessary. And to take Ada Mykolaivna with you, because I know for certain that it will be done responsibly and discreetly.
I do not know whether this inspired Ada Mykolaivna’s next escapade, but after a few more social pleasantries, theatrical stories and jokes, the actress unexpectedly asked the Commander-in-Chief:
- Valero, you are the most senior person in the army, aren’t you?
Valerii Fedorovych almost seemed to look over his shoulder for the person the actress was addressing, as though there could be someone more important and more senior than her in the world. Then he paused for a moment and replied, not entirely confidently:
- I suppose I am, Ada Mykolaivna.
- Then tell me, how can it be that I am a Hero of Ukraine, but Da Vinci is not?
This time, everyone present was stunned into silence. Whenever she recalls that evening, Katia insists: "My mother and I never discussed the need to raise this with the country’s senior leadership! We never even imagined it was possible. But you know how much she loves Da Vinci. It was as though some kind of providence suddenly guided her. You do believe me that we did not plan this, don’t you?" I know that very well. Many other people had been making efforts. Ada Mykolaivna and I discussed it when the decree was signed, neither on Independence Day nor on the Feast of the Intercession, even though the military had submitted the nominations long before. The matter had been brought before the president, while then Minister of Veterans Affairs Oleksandr Porkhun and volunteer Serhii Prytula had personally explained why it needed to be done, and Member of Parliament Roman Kostenko had advocated for it. But the decree simply remained unsigned. I told Ada Mykolaivna about it, complained, and worried. But we never discussed her trying to influence anyone on this particular matter. An intelligent woman, however, does not need to be told what to do and when. She knows perfectly well herself.
After the actress’s question, Valerii Fedorovych asked me:
- Isn’t Dima a Hero of Ukraine?
- No, - I explained. - He is a People’s Hero of Ukraine. The battalion commander of the 72nd Brigade submitted him for the title of Hero of Ukraine, along with another volunteer, Tengiz. The matter was discussed in the president’s office more than once, but the decree has still not been signed. I had already lost hope because all the dates by which it could have been done had passed.
- Not all of them! - Valerii Fedorovych said firmly and gave me an assignment: - Remind me tomorrow morning who submitted the nomination and who has already worked on the matter. I will clarify everything. Then we will see.
There were photographs and hugs. Then we went our separate ways. The next morning, I reminded the Commander-in-Chief about the nomination and where to find it. No one promised anyone anything. Everyone carried on with their own affairs. My friends and I traveled to Ivano-Frankivsk to see the local theater’s production of "Romeo and Juliet," as everyone had recommended it. We did not regret it, quite the opposite: I became a devotee of the theater, and the Frankivsk actors became my friends.
On November 28, we were returning from Frankivsk. On the highway near Zhytomyr, my phone rang. It was Zaluzhnyi himself.
- Hello. The matter has been resolved. Call Da Vinci and tell him that he must be in Kyiv for the award ceremony on December 1. You speak to him first, and then I will call him. I very much hope he will not refuse.
Can you imagine what state I was in? There are witnesses to all those conversations and to the stunned look on my face.
I assured him that even if Dmytro resisted, I knew which combat officers could persuade him, those he trusted and regarded as his equals.
Dmytro answered immediately. After greeting me, he did not ask why I was calling but began telling me his news. You know how it is when someone close to you immediately wants to share their emotions. That did not happen often because he was usually busy and focused. But this time, he was telling me something very sweetly and sincerely. I listened and then said:
- Dima, I am not calling you for no reason. Zaluzhnyi is about to call you and repeat what I am telling you. On December 1 in Kyiv, you will be awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine.
He fell silent, and the pause lasted a very long time. His tone changed completely.
- Are you serious?
- More than serious. It is true. I hope you will not refuse or stage any protests. You are a volunteer, but now you are being recognized at the state level!
There was another pause. If only I could convey his voice, his intonation. He was speaking from the heart:
- I cannot refuse because this is recognition not of me, but of our entire unit. And this is very important to those who trust me and have fought alongside me for many years.
Grandiose? But that was how he felt. He did not say it in front of cameras or from the rostrum of the Verkhovna Rada—no. He said it over the phone to one person, someone close whom, and I write these words with immense gratitude to Dmytro, he trusted deeply.
At that moment, my eyes filled with tears.
Then Dmytro’s voice changed:
- Excuse me, Zaluzhnyi is calling on the other line. I’ll answer.
A couple of minutes later, Dmytro called me back and asked:
- Violetta, is it true?
Once again, I told him that it was all true, that he needed to prepare to travel to Kyiv and receive the award. And that I was expecting him to stop by. Only after that did I call Ada Mykolaivna and tell her that Dima would receive the title of Hero of Ukraine! I was no longer the only one crying with happiness; another Woman was too.
On the eve of December 1, or rather, already on December 1, several hours before the award ceremony, Da Vinci stopped by my place to collect the silver tryzub, the People’s Hero of Ukraine order, which he was to wear when receiving the country’s highest state honor. The recognition he had received from the people in 2017 was very important to Dmytro. He always pinned the order to his uniform for every public event. I always had to keep a spare decoration for him.
Perhaps someday I will recount our late-night conversation in greater detail, because Dmytro shared deeply personal things, worried, grew nervous, and laughed about being asked to go to a depot to collect a pixel-pattern uniform, which he had never worn.
- I could not let Valerii Fedorovych down and insisted on wearing my own Multicam. So I will wear the pixel uniform. I even tried on a cap. I look very funny in it, - he said, showing me photographs.
But I was like a tightly coiled spring. Until I saw the decree, the award, and the moment it was presented with my own eyes, I would not be certain that all of this was really happening. Valerii Fedorovych felt the same way. I became convinced of that on the morning of December 1.
I watched the televised broadcast from the Verkhovna Rada at home. I saw Dmytro enter the chamber. He was as handsome as a young god. The People’s Hero tryzub was on his chest. He was wearing the pixel uniform. I smiled and wiped away tears at the same time. But I could not see Zaluzhnyi in the chamber. I messaged him. He sent me a photograph showing that he was watching the broadcast on his phone, propped against some reference book, while he himself was attending a meeting at the House of Officers. Judging by what he said, he was just as nervous as I was. When Dmytro received the award, pressed his fist to his heart and said, "Glory to Ukraine!"... I still cannot convey what I felt at that moment. Afterward, Valerii Fedorovych and I agreed that we would all meet somewhere later that day and that Ada Mykolaivna absolutely had to be there.
I clearly remember walking along Khreshchatyk with Dmytro. He was carrying the award case in his hands. Back then, he was not as widely known as he is now. I wanted to grab every passerby by the hands and say: "Look who this is! You must understand what kind of Person is walking beside you!" That was why I constantly wrote about him and his unit, trying to convey the importance, significance, and strength of the volunteer unit, the only one that remained in the fight!
Dmytro and I entered the October Palace, where a full run-through of Katia’s production featuring Ada Mykolaivna was underway. We had agreed with the stage director that we would all meet at the theater. When we entered through the stage door, the actors involved in the rehearsal, the sound engineer, the designer, and the administrators had already gathered onstage. Valerii Fedorovych was there as well. Katia had prepared everything, and when Da Vinci stepped out from the wings onto the stage, the Ukrainian national anthem began to play, an anthem that, for some reason, had not been played at the Verkhovna Rada that day.
After the formal congratulations, hugs and conversations, we moved to the dressing room, where I suggested that Valerii Fedorovych personally pin the Hero of Ukraine decoration onto Dmytro’s uniform. You all know the photographs taken at that moment very well.
After that, Zaluzhnyi rushed off to attend to his other important affairs. Let us not forget—at the time, he was the most senior person in the army! Dmytro sat in the auditorium for a little while and watched the rehearsal. But his phone kept ringing and distracting him. Before long, he also left for his next meeting. He was always an important figure in the war. And he could never find time to attend performances...
After the rehearsal, Ada Mykolaivna and I went back to her home. In the elevator, with a happy smile on her face and a little tired from all the emotions and encounters, she looked at me through the mirror and said:
- So, Kirtoka, can the old lady pull it off?
- Ada Mykolaivna, you are no old lady, but yes, you can!
On July 16, 2026, Ada Mykolaivna performed in a play. It was not the production whose rehearsal Da Vinci had watched, but it was in the very same auditorium where the historic events of December 1, 2021, events of immense personal importance to us, had taken place. But in the dressing room, as I know because it happens every time, she would point out the spot to me and say: "This is where he stood!" Only a small number of those who came to congratulate their favorite actress would understand what she meant.
After the congratulations, we would go to Da Vinci’s grave, as we always did. We would leave most of the flowers beside his portrait. Once again, we would laugh as we recalled cleaning the toilet at the base in Avdiivka and sweeping the yard, light a cigarette for him and ache with longing, because without him, my world, Ada Mykolaivna’s world, Katia’s world and Zaluzhnyi’s world had all become much narrower. But we saw him completely happy that day on the stage of the October Palace, when the national anthem was played in his honor, and the most senior person in the army pinned the award to his uniform! He felt it. And Ada Mykolaivna played a direct role in making it happen!
P.S. Most of the photographs published here are being made public for the first time.
Violetta Kirtoka, Censor.NET
