President Volodymyr Zelensky signed Decree No. 894/2026 of 7 September 2026, which revoked the previously issued document No. 805/2026 of 21 August 2026. It was this August decree that awarded Major Yuriy Spasskyi the title of Hero of Ukraine with the conferral of the Order of the Golden Star — the country's highest state decoration. The wording in the revoking document is extremely concise: "Revoke the Decree of the President of Ukraine of 21 August 2026, No. 805/2026." No explanations, motives, or references to the specific circumstances that served as the basis for reconsidering the decision are provided in the decree. This is reported by RBC-Ukraine with reference to the official document of the head of state.

Circumstances of the original award

According to the revoked Decree No. 805/2026, Major Yuriy Spasskyi was awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine "for personal courage and heroism displayed in the defense of Ukraine's state sovereignty and territorial integrity, and for selfless service to the Ukrainian people." This wording is standard for decorations conferred on military personnel in the conditions of an ongoing armed conflict. However, less than a month after the document was signed, the presidential decision was fully annulled, which in itself is a rare precedent in the practice of conferring top-level honors.

Criminal proceedings in the Revolution of Dignity cases

The key context linking Spasskyi's name to the revocation of the award is his role in a number of criminal proceedings concerning the events of the 2013–2014 Revolution of Dignity. According to the prosecution, as stated by the prosecutor in court, Yuriy Valentynovych Spasskyi, who held the position of deputy head of the department for ensuring mass events of the public security department of the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in Kyiv, gave an unlawful order to the "Berkut" special unit to forcibly disperse participants of a peaceful protest, as a result of which 12 people sustained bodily injuries. The investigation also considers him implicated in the organization of the deliberate killings of protesters on 18 February 2014, together with other former heads of the militia. According to the investigation's version, as a result of the actions to which Spasskyi is implicated, three protesters were killed, a further 11 people sustained serious injuries, and 59 sustained injuries of moderate severity.

Investigation episodes and procedural status

The materials against Spasskyi cover several key episodes: the attempt to disperse the Maidan on 11 December 2013, the events on Hrushevsky Street on 22 January 2014, and the violent clashes of 18 February 2014. Law enforcement agencies charge him with the organization of deliberate killings and attempted murders, infliction of grievous bodily harm, abuse of official authority, and unlawful obstruction of the holding of peaceful rallies. In September 2021, the Pechersk District Court of Kyiv selected a preventive measure for him in the episodes of violent actions against protest participants on 18 February 2014. In 2023, the consideration of one of the cases was temporarily suspended: Spasskyi was mobilized into the ranks of the Defence Forces of Ukraine and went on a deployment to carry out combat tasks.

Military service and departmental awards

A paradoxical detail that complicates the picture is that after his mobilization in 2023, Spasskyi continued his service within the structure of the Defence Forces and received departmental awards of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine. In 2023, the distinction "Firearms" was presented to him by then-Minister of Defence Oleksiy Reznikov, and in 2024 he received a similar distinction from Rustem Umerov. Thus, by the time the title of Hero of Ukraine was conferred in August 2026, Spasskyi was formally an active-duty serviceman with confirmed combat service, which presumably became the basis for the original award.

Contradictory data

There is significant procedural uncertainty in the provided materials. RBC-Ukraine, in its headline, directly links the stripping of the title to the fact that Spasskyi "figures in the Maidan cases," which implies the identity of the decorated major and the subject of the criminal proceedings. However, the source's own text uses the phrasing "a person with an identical surname, first name, and patronymic," which leaves a formal loophole for interpretation. The official Decree No. 894/2026 contains neither a reference to the criminal proceedings nor an indication of the specific circumstances that became the cause of the revocation. Thus, only the fact of the revocation of the award is publicly confirmed; a direct causal link between the Maidan criminal cases and the president's decision is not recorded in the official document. Both versions — of the identity of the person and of a possible coincidence of names — remain in the field of public discussion without a final procedural resolution.