Andrii R. Hul (Shtern)

24-year-old Sergeant Andriy Hul (call sign Stern) was killed on February 3, 2023, while performing a combat mission near the city of Hulyaipole in the Zaporizhia region. Near the village of Zeleny Hai, together with his comrade, he came under enemy tank fire - the soldiers were killed on the spot. Andriy was born in Ivano-Frankivsk. He graduated from Lyceum No. 5. Later, he entered the Ivano-Frankivsk College of the Lviv National Agrarian University, where he studied "Agronomy". In 2010, he joined Plast, was a member of the "White Fangs" group of the 59th Kurin named after Stepan Lenkavsky, and served as treasurer and scribe. In 2019-2021, he served in the military. After demobilization, he returned home and worked as a pilot of an agricultural drone, which he used to sow fields. On the second day of the full-scale war, on February 25, 2022, Andriy joined the ranks of the local Territorial Defense Forces. He became a soldier of the 78th Battalion of the 102nd Separate Territorial Defense Brigade named after Colonel Dmytro Vitovsky. He held the position of a mortar crew member. He also used his civilian professional skills and operated drones. "Andriy Hul was an active participant in many Plast events, trainings, and trips, including the Kurin summer camps 'Night Wanderers' (2010), 'By Cymbals' (2011), 'Tavrida' (2012), and 'Paths of the Opryshky' (2013). He withdrew from active Plast activities in the first quarter of 2014. He was awarded the Iron Plast Cross on February 12, 2023," the Plast organization stated. "The college community remembers Andriy as a bright, cheerful, and smiling young man. The memory of him will forever remain in the hearts of those who knew him. Due to the brutal war with the Russian occupiers, we continue to lose our brave, talented, and heroic youth. We will not forget..." the Ivano-Frankivsk College wrote on their page. The soldier was buried in the Alley of Heroes in the village of Chukalivka, Ivano-Frankivsk region. Andriy is survived by his parents and two sisters.