Former WRC2 and European Rally Championship co-driver Volodymyr Korsia, who put his career on hold to join the Ukrainian military before being wounded in action in 2024, received the Order for Courage from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in October.

The Ukrainian President issued the award on October 9, 2025, for “personal courage shown in the defense of state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine”.

The Order for Courage is bestowed in recognition of one’s personal courage and heroism in times of crisis such as wars and other emergencies. Korsia’s award is a Third Class, and may be upgraded to Second and First Class if he were to receive it again a second and third time. Recipients of the honor are formally called “Knights of the Order for Courage”.

Korsia won the Ukrainian Rally Championship’s Class 5 title in 2012 as the navigator for Dmytro Tananevych, then claimed the national championship outright the year after with Valeriy Gorban. He later went on to compete in WRC2 and the European Rally Championship with Georg Linnamäe.

He was supposed to return to the ERC in 2022 before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, after which he enlisted. Korsia, callsign “Rocket”, was assigned to the Territorial Defense Forces as a logistics and procurement specialist before working in reconnaissance and communications. His rally experience also meant he was often tasked with driving duties, though his main responsibility was setting up relays and command posts.

In November 2024, Sergeant Korsia was on a combat mission with the 126th Territorial Defense Brigade when he suffered severe shoulder, torso, and leg injuries. Surgeries proved to be complicated due to shrapnel and dirt being embedded in him, but were successful; he now has four plates and multiple screws in his torso, which he quipped has made him “almost Iron Man” now.

“Every reward has a price,” Korsia said about his Order for Courage.

Featured image credit: Volodymyr Korsia