Bohdan V. Havelia

Born on September 5, 1974, in the city of Kremenchuk, Poltava region. In 1991, he graduated from secondary school No. 31 in Kremenchuk. He served his mandatory military service in the communication troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He lived in the city of Kremenchuk. He was engaged in human rights activities in the International Organization for the Protection of Human Rights. On August 7, 2014, he was mobilized as a volunteer into the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He initially served as a signalman, then as a grenade launcher in the 3rd separate airborne battalion "Phoenix" of the 79th separate airborne brigade of the High Mobility Airborne Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (military unit A0224, city of Mykolaiv). Since November 2014, he participated in the anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine. On February 4, 2015, a reconnaissance group of 30 soldiers, including Sergeant Havelia, set out in three armored personnel carriers and a jeep to conduct search and strike operations in the area of the village of Shyrokyne in the Volnovakha district of Donetsk region. Upon entering the village of Shyrokyne, the unit fell into an ambush by pro-Russian militants and was fired upon with anti-tank and small arms. A shot from a grenade launcher hit the lead vehicle - the jeep, where Sergeant Havelia was at the machine gun, resulting in his death. Soldier Oleksandr Zaychenko also died, and two other servicemen were wounded. With their lives, these soldiers saved 10 fighters in the armored personnel carrier that was following the jeep and allowed the main group to withdraw from the fire zone and regroup. On February 8, 2015, he was buried in the Sector of Fallen Heroes of the Anti-Terrorist Operation at the Svyshtov Cemetery in the city of Kremenchuk.