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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky responded to an electronic petition to strip rapper Oleksii Potapenko (Potap) of the honorary title "Honored Artist of Ukraine." The head of state instructed the Cabinet of Ministers and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) to consider the matter.
The president's response appeared on the electronic petitions website. The petition itself, initiated by Kateryna Taran, was published back on 28 August, and by 3 September it had gathered the 25 thousand signatures required for consideration. The author asked for Potap's public activities to be thoroughly reviewed and, if there are legal grounds, for sanctions to be initiated against him — namely, to strip him of the state honor.
Petition / screenshot from the electronic petitions site
In his official reply, Volodymyr Zelensky explained that, according to the law, the title "Honored Artist of Ukraine" is indeed a state honor. It can be revoked either by a guilty verdict in court or by a decision of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) to apply the relevant sanctions. Proposals to bring such matters before the NSDC may be made by the Cabinet of Ministers and the Security Service of Ukraine.
"I have sent the mentioned petition to the Prime Minister of Ukraine Serhii Koretskyi and to the acting head of the Security Service of Ukraine Oleksandr Poklad with a request, within their competence, to process the issue raised in the petition in the manner prescribed by law,"
— the president stated.
It is important to understand that the president's response does not mean Potap will be immediately stripped of the title. For now, the matter has only been forwarded for legal review by the relevant agencies.
As is known, Potap was awarded the title "Honored Artist of Ukraine" in 2020. In September 2026 the Verkhovna Rada tried to adopt an appeal to the president to strip the rapper of this honor, but the motion lacked the votes — the initiative was supported by only 198 deputies.
Potap equated the Russian language with freedom / screenshot from the video
Oleksii Potapenko himself, after the petition appeared, wrote on his Instagram that he is ready to give up the honor, calling the calls to do so a "witch hunt."
"I see all the country’s problems have already been solved. Only the most important task remains — to take the title 'Honored Artist of Ukraine' away from Potap. If that really helps someone, makes someone happier, brings victory closer, or restores people's faith — I'm ready. I will give it up voluntarily,"
— the artist wrote.
Potap's reaction to the petition / screenshot from Instagram
Recently Potap complained about difficult departures from Ukraine and explained why he lives abroad.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item "Зеленський направив петицію про позбавлення Потапа звання "Заслужений артист" до Кабміну та СБУ". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: Channel 24.
