The soldier refused the order because sanctions were imposed against Arestovych.

Ukrainian lieutenant colonel Roman Kovalov expressed his dissatisfaction with the sanctions imposed on Oleksiy Arestovych, the former advisor to the head of the President's Office. For this reason, he refused the order of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi of the III degree as a sign of protest. He wrote about this on his Facebook page, reported 'Glavkom'.

According to Kovalov, he is a long-Time friend of Arestovych and considers him a patriot and defender of the Ukrainian people. He is convinced that the sanctions violate the rights and freedoms of Ukrainian citizens, and the National Security and Defense Council does not have the authority to impose them without a court decision or law enforcement agencies.

Kovalov believes that he has no choice but to refuse the order to draw attention to the violation of the fundamental rights and freedoms of Ukrainian citizens, which, in his opinion, are illegal. It is noted that President Volodymyr Zelensky awarded Kovalov this order in 2024.

Also, another serviceman Taras Zadorozhnyi refused the award - the medal for the defense of the city of Bakhmut and the honorary badge. He published photographs of these awards but claims that he was told these awards do not matter and are not officially registered.

Sanctions were imposed against several individuals, including Oleksiy Arestovych and Myroslav Oleshko. These sanctions have been criticized by Russian propagandists. According to Arestovych, he seeks to reconcile with Putin and appeal to the West. After leaving his position in the President's Office, he began to criticize the Ukrainian government and make pro-Russian statements.

Thus, Kovalov and Zadorozhnyi refused the awards to express their opinion on the sanctions and the violation of the rights of Ukrainian citizens.