Ukraine’s army keeps losing men as the government’s anti-terrorist operation continues in the eastern Donbas region of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts against Kremlin-backed separatists.
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Oleh Makhnitskyi said the death toll stands at 181 people, including 61 members of Ukraine’s military when the deaths of two Ukrainian troops on June 3 are counted.
Here the Kyiv Post’s list of Ukraine’s 14 servicemen who died on May 29-30:
May 30, Sloviansk
Two were killed in a shootout at checkpoints in eastern Ukraine oblasts.
Volodymyr Isadchenko, 19, Ukraine’s National Guard soldier. Isadchenko, one of the youngest servicemen, was killed during the shootout near eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk. He left his parents and fiancé in his native village in Odessa Oblast.
Dmytro Shelemin, 22, Ukraine’s National Guard sergeant suffered fatal injuries when Kremlin-backed insurgents opened fire near a checkpoint on May 28 in the eastern Ukrainian city of Oleksandrivsk in Luhansk Oblast. Medical workers tried to save his life, but he died from wounds two days after. He leaves his mother and younger brother in his hometown in Sverdlovsk in Luhansk Oblast.
May 29, Sloviansk
A dozen members of a Ukrainian helicopter crew were killed near Sloviansk on May 29 as they delivered troop replacements, food and equipment. Separatists used a portable air-defense system as the crew started their return flight.
Six out of 12 victims were former Berkut riot police officers, who volunteered for service.
“There are no random people here. All these men were willing to work here, they were in good physical shape, had all the moral qualities needed. And they knew where they were going,” Anatoliy Bas, former Berkut commander said. All six were guarding the TV tower in Sloviansk. The helicopter was supposed to bring them to Kharkiv.
Another six killed in the same helicopter were Ukraine’s National Guard soldiers and their commander, Major-General Serhiy Kulchytskiy.
Serhiy Kulchytskiy, 50. The major-general was killed during his last day of service in Ukraine’s east. “Kulchytskiy was kind of a mother for his soldiers,” his friend, Stepan Borchuk, was quoted as saying. “He was sure the soldiers can serve well only when they are not hungry and have all the equipment.”
Serhiy Buldovych, 41, Kirovohrad. Buldovych leaves a wife and a son. “I couldn’t believe in this,” one of Buldovych’s friends, Mykola, said during the funeral on May 31. “It seems to me that we still could see him alive one day. Our guys were killed without a reason. It’s incredibly difficult to overcome this.”
Serhiy Kravchenko, 39, flight engineer. He pursued a military career for 22 years. “Serhiy was a very cheerful person,” a friend of his family, Liliya, was quoted as saying. “And now his relatives are mad with grieve.” Kravchenko leaves a wife and two sons.
Vitaliy Kurylovych, 40, the chief of the special training unit of the National Guard of Ukraine. He leaves two sons.
Valentyn Biloshkurskiy, 34, gunner, Vinnytsia. His compatriots recalled he was very kind man. “I have been knowing Valentyn for nearly 12 years. He was very reliable serviceman,” Biloshkurskiy’s comrade, Dmyto Rysak was quoted as saying. Biloshkurskiy leaves a wife and 10-year old daughter.
Viktor Lipskiy, 31 leaves his pregnant wife and 10-year old son in his native village in Vinnytsia Oblast.
Petro Ostapiuk, 26, former Berkut officer from Torhovytsa village in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast. His family still has not recovered his body from the checkpoint in Sloviansk. “My child was at war for 42 days, hungry… So there were people to send him there but there are no people to bring him back, even dead,” his mother said, asking Ukraine’s president-elect Petro Poroshenko to bring son’s body home.
Viktor Yakovyak, 25, former Berkut officer. Yakovyak was the youngest among three brothers in the family. His childhood dream was to become a police officer and he fulfilled it. He wanted to marry his girlfriend “when the peace comes to our country,” Yakovyak’s older brother, Ihor, quotes him as saying. He planned to be home by June 5.
Vasyl Semaniuk, 30, police officer and former Berkut riot police officer from Ivano-Frankivsk. He leaves a daughter and a wife.
Volodymyr Sharaburyak, 38, former Berkut officer from Ivano-Frankivsk. He was the oldest one among police officers in his team.
Volodymyr Lysenchuk, 29, former Berkut officer from Lisnyi Khlibychyn, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast. Lysenchuk left home for Easter and never came back. He planned to come back home before his birthday on June 10. His two children – 6-year-old daughter and 7-month-old son, lost their father. “He was ensuring he is fine, but we were hearing the shooting all the time when speaking to him,” says Lysenchuk’s brother Viktor. “He went to defend Ukraine and met his death.”
Petro Bezpalko, 34, former Berkut officer, was one of the most experienced officers in the team and took part in many armed conflicts. He was seriously injured in Kosovo. He leaves his mother, wife and three children. “How can I not go when all my boys are there? I should fulfill my duty,” his mother Hanna Levytska recalls him saying when leaving home a month and half ago.
Kyiv Post staff writer Daryna Shevchenko can be reached at [email protected] and Olena Goncharova can be reached at [email protected]
