Bohdan V. Shlemkevych

Born on March 7, 1993, in the village of Biloberizka, Verkhovyna district, Ivano-Frankivsk region. He was passionate about sports and fishing. From 1999 to 2008, he studied at Biloberizka Secondary School. After finishing the 9th grade, he entered the Volyn Spiritual Seminary of the UOC-KP (which was later transformed into the Volyn Orthodox Theological Academy), and in 2012 he graduated with honors with a bachelor's degree in theology. He dreamed of becoming a priest, like his older brother Roman, a priest of the Kolomyia diocese. Instead of entering a master's program, he consciously decided to fulfill his military duty and in the spring of 2013 was called up for compulsory military service in the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. He served in a canine unit (because he had loved animals since childhood), diligently performing duties related to training service dogs and tasks related to public order protection. His term of service was set to end on April 10, 2014, but due to the escalation of the situation in eastern Ukraine and the announcement of partial mobilization, Bohdan was sent as part of a combined unit to Donetsk, and from there to Mariupol. On May 9, 2014, during mass riots that led to the storming and destruction of the Mariupol City Police Department building, gunfire was opened from a crowd of local residents at the National Guard soldiers who had arrived to assist the police. Several guards were injured, and Bohdan, whose bulletproof vest was pierced by three bullets, was killed… He was buried with military honors in his native village. The farewell ceremony took place in the Biloberizka People's House. All the villagers came to pay their last respects to Bohdan, as they say, from young to old, deputies of the Verkhovyna District Council, heads of all institutions and organizations in the district, teachers and students of the theological academy. A farewell procession, preceded by a wedding tree (this is how unmarried people are buried in Verkhovyna), accompanied Bohdan Shlemkevych's coffin along a flower-strewn road to the church, where a memorial service was held. After farewell speeches at the cemetery, the mournful melody of trembita sounded, which, according to ancient Hutsul tradition, announces someone's death and funeral. Over Biloberizka, there were such wails that it seemed even nature mourned in sorrow… The head of the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Council, Vasyl Skrypnychuk, said: "The farewell to Bohdan struck me. Everyone who could come did. People cried throughout the funeral, saying goodbye to the young man. The soldiers who served side by side with Bohdan, who also came to pay their last respects, were shocked. They were struck by the respect shown, as there were residents from the entire village, priests, and representatives of all levels of government. And also, Bohdan is a Hero. The state has not yet awarded Bohdan such a title, but that is exactly what we wrote on the wreaths we brought to the grave…".