Deceased Medics Remembrance Day in Ukraine Date in the current year: July 10, 2025

The observance of Deceased Medics Remembrance Day was initiated by the team of the Order of St. Panteleimon (Pantaleon), which organizes events in support of medical workers and honors the best among them every year. The Order of St. Panteleimon is a public, professional-oriented award for professionalism and mercy that has been dubbed the “medical Oscar” due to its significance in Ukrainian medical circles.

The main goal of Deceased Medics Remembrance Day is to honor the memory of medical personnel who died during the war with Russia, whether on the front lines, in frontline territories, or in the rear. This includes combat medics who rescued wounded soldiers under fire and civilian medics who died during the shelling of medical facilities or while responding to emergency calls. They all saved dozens or even hundreds of lives before losing their own.

According to the Order of St. Panteleimon, as of July 2025, at least 500 medical workers, including doctors, nurses, paramedics, junior medical personnel, and combat medics, have died in Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. They died on battlefields, in emergency departments, operating rooms, and their offices, on their way to provide assistance to civilians affected by shelling, on the street, at home, and on the way to work.

To honor the memory of deceased Ukrainian medical workers, the Ukrainian League for the Development of Hospice and Palliative Care (the coordinator of the Order of St. Panteleimon award) founded the national initiative Posvit pam’yati (Light of Memory) with the support of the Ukrainian Ministry of Health. The initiative aims to honor the memory of medical workers who lost their lives saving others.

The initiative will include the creation of printed and digital memorials containing the biographies of deceased Ukrainian medical workers. There are also plans to hold remembrance events and install memorial signs. Additionally, the initiative will include psychological and social support to the families of the deceased. The annual celebration of the Deceased Medics Remembrance Day is also part of this initiative.

On July 10, the sound of a heart stopping sounds in hospitals and other medical institutions throughout Ukraine, followed by a minute of silence in memory of fallen medical workers. The memory of deceased medical workers in Ukraine is also honored on Medical Workers’ Day, celebrated on July 27 since 2023 (formerly celebrated on the third Sunday in June).