Mykolaiv conferred the title of Honorary Citizen on Ihor Bedzai and Hennadiy Matuliak

The Mykolaiv City Council posthumously awarded the title “Honorary Citizen of the City of Mykolaiv” to two military pilots — Colonel Ihor Bedzai and Lieutenant Colonel Hennadii Matuliak. Deputies adopted the decision during the session on 27 August 2026. It was unanimously supported by 37 deputies, the Mykolaiv City Council reported. The candidates were preliminarily approved by the organizing committee, whose meeting took place on 18 August. The draft decisions were also supported by the standing deputy commissions.

Along with granting the titles, deputies amended the relevant Regulations. For servicemen they established a separate criterion: to be eligible for the title of Honorary Citizen of Mykolaiv a person must be a Hero of Ukraine or a full bearer of the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky.

Ihor Bedzai and Hennadii Matuliak were posthumously awarded the title Hero of Ukraine with the Order “Gold Star” for personal courage and heroism displayed while defending the state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

Ihor Bedzai was born on 20 July 1972 in Mykolaiv. He was a military pilot, a colonel of the Ukrainian Naval Forces, and commanded the 10th Saky Brigade of Naval Aviation. After the Russian occupation of Crimea in 2014 Bedzai, together with his subordinates, organized the relocation of personnel and serviceable aviation equipment to the Ukrainian mainland. Thanks to these actions, the core of Ukrainian naval aviation was preserved. The colonel was killed on 7 May 2022 while carrying out a combat mission. The Mi-14 helicopter he piloted was struck by a missile from a Russian fighter. The title Hero of Ukraine Ihor Bedzai was posthumously awarded by Presidential Decree No. 327/2022.

Hennadii Matuliak was born on 29 April 1977. For more than ten years he served in the 299th Tactical Aviation Brigade, which is based in Mykolaiv. The pilot flew MiG-29, L-39 and Su-25 aircraft. The serviceman was killed on 25 February 2022, the second day of the full-scale Russian invasion.

During a combat sortie in the Kyiv region Matuliak struck a column of Russian equipment. His aircraft was hit. The pilot attempted to steer the damaged plane away from a populated area to avoid endangering civilians, but he could not save himself. Hennadii Matuliak was posthumously awarded the title Hero of Ukraine with the Order “Gold Star” by Presidential Decree No. 78/2022.

The names of both pilots are already commemorated on the map of Mykolaiv: the city has a Ihor Bedzai Street and a Hennadii Matuliak Street. From 27 August 2026 both Heroes are also Honorary Citizens of Mykolaiv — posthumously.

Previously, we wrote:

• “This young pilot — my husband”: who Ihor Bedzai saved at the cost of his own life
• Killed while steering his plane away from houses: a street was named after Hennadii Matuliak
• Streets in Mykolaiv named after the pilot-heroes from the Kulbakynska brigade
• Hennadii Matuliak was posthumously awarded the “For the Defense of Mykolaiv” distinction
• Olha Kharlan became an Honorary Citizen of the city of Mykolaiv