Trophy raid champion Andriy Gusev has been posthumously recognized as a Hero of Ukraine, conferred upon him by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

The Hero of Ukraine is the highest honor that one could receive, with civilians getting the Order of the State while military personnel are awarded the Order of the Gold Star. Zelenskyy issued a decree to honor Gusev as one on August 23, 2024, before formally giving the Order of the Gold Star to his family in an awards ceremony on Friday.

Gusev was a lieutenant colonel and commander in the Special Operations Center “Omega”, a special forces unit of the Ukrainian National Guard that focuses on reconnaissance. On June 3, 2023, he and his men were on a boat in Kharkiv when they were ambushed by Russian troops; Gusev attempted to help his comrades but was shot multiple times and fell overboard.

He had been serving since 2016, well before the full-scale Russian invasion but two years into fighting. During an operation in Sloviansk, Gusev lured 30 Russian soldiers into an abandoned building before lobbing grenades at them.

“When we say that during this war, more than 100 thousand Ukrainian soldiers were awarded state awards, 562 were awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine, we always mean much, much more,” said Zelenskyy on Friday. “We thank each and everyone who fights for the Ukrainian people. We thank everyone who raises such sons and daughters for Ukraine—everyone who teaches, who passes on their experience to our soldiers, everyone who is waiting for our Ukrainian heroes at home, and everyone who remembers our fallen boys and girls.”

Before the war, Gusev competed in the Ukrainian Trophy-Raid Championship. He won the 2014 title in the premier TR-1 class, driving a Suzuki Samurai with Viktor Monomarchuk as his co-driver. The pair also raced a Toyota Land Cruiser in the National Trial Series.

For his racing achievements, Gusev was recognized as a Master of Sport.

Gusev is the second known Hero of Ukraine to come from the racing world. In March 2022, just a fortnight after the invasion started, rally raider Viacheslav Ponomarenko received the Order of the Gold Star for his service in Hostomel.