Andrii S. Kypen (Varan)

Sergeant Andrii Kypen (call sign Varan) was killed on April 2, 2023, near the village of Novodanilivka in the Zaporizhzhia region. While carrying out a combat mission, he received a fatal gunshot wound to the heart with internal organ damage. The warrior was forever 34 years old. Andrii was born in the village of Yasinya, Zakarpattia region. In 2006, he graduated from the local secondary school No. 2. Together with his younger sister Iryna, he was professionally engaged in the ski school. He was passionate about judo, karate, boxing, dancing, and studied in a wood carving school. He loved his native lands and the mountains, where he spent most of his time, picking mushrooms, blueberries, and just walking in silence. In childhood, he worked in orchards. He grew up without a father, so he helped his family as best he could. After finishing school, he was drafted into the army. He served in Crimea. He served in the special unit "Lavanda" of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Later, he worked at a private sawmill in his native village and went to the Czech Republic to earn money. In 2016-2019, he served under contract in the 128th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He participated in the ATO/JFO in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. After demobilization, in the winter, he worked as a ski instructor at the Dragobrat ski resort, where he met his future wife. Andrii always said that he fell in love at first sight. The first days of the Great War found him at the Dragobrat resort. On February 24, 2022, the man tried to get to his 128th OMSB. Since there was no recruitment yet, the next day he was mobilized to the security company of the Rakhiv military enlistment office. There he received the rank of sergeant. On April 29, he married his beloved. The couple was expecting the birth of a daughter, but on May 1, Andrii went to training at the Yavoriv training ground. Then he got into the sapper platoon of the newly formed 65th Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He fought in the Zaporizhzhia direction. After some time, he was transferred to the reconnaissance company, took the position of the platoon commander. He participated in many battles in the Zaporizhzhia region. He carried out mining, demining, reconnaissance, and reclaiming of territories. He participated in the evacuation of civilians and military personnel. He led and withdrew groups for further work. In August 2022, the military man was awarded the honorary badge of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine "Steel Cross". "I feel that I am needed here. I'm always the first where the tanks didn't go, where the reconnaissance didn't go, I go. I provide security. I like to mine when I understand that I really protected someone, set up a really reliable protection and they are safe," Andrii said. Whenever there was an opportunity, the man tried to come to his beloved wife at least for a few hours. On November 11, 2022, the couple had a daughter Maria. Coming on vacation for the New Year, Andrii wrote a letter to his daughter, which he put in a pendant and gave to his wife with a request to give the child the written when she feels that she needs her father's support the most. This was a farewell letter. That time they saw each other for the last time. "Kind, sensitive, hardworking, a master of his craft, the best instructor in the whole world, he loved children very much, and they loved him. He could always come to the rescue at any time. In a few words, it is impossible to describe how much he cared for and loved his family. Family was everything to him, the meaning of his life. The best," said his wife. "There was and will never be such a courageous sapper and scout, a Hero with a capital letter. He was dedicated to his work. A true patriot. A lot of time has passed, but every day, as we move forward, we find work that we didn't even know Andrii had done, demining and mining certain territories. We all miss him very much. His fearlessness motivated. Anyone would be afraid and wouldn't go where he went. He is the best. He never feared to do his job. Even there, where there was danger and prohibitions to do something, he still went," his comrades added. "His posture and gait were always military. Andrii was a born warrior," said his friends and fellow villagers. The hero is buried in his native village. At home, he was awaited by his mother Tetiana, sister Iryna, wife Kateryna, and daughter Maria.