Ihor A. Maliar

Soldier Igor Maliar (call sign Tsygan) died on March 26, 2022 in Mariupol, Donetsk region. The defender was forever 20 years old. Igor was born in the village of Severynivka, Vinnytsia region. He graduated from the Tulchyn Technical School of Veterinary Medicine, where he obtained the profession of a veterinarian. During his studies, he worked as an auxiliary worker at the Vinnytsia poultry factory "Nasha ryaba". In 2020, he was drafted into the National Guard of Ukraine. He served in Mariupol. He was fond of fishing, loved to ride a motorcycle, and grow rabbits. From the beginning of the full-scale invasion, he defended Mariupol. He was a rifleman of the 2nd platoon of the 2nd rifle company of the rifle battalion. "In April 2022, my son was supposed to be demobilized. But on February 24 at 6:00 am he called: 'Mom, a big war has started. Go to a safe place. They are supposed to take us to Zaporizhia.' Later he reported that they were staying in Mariupol. He said: 'We will stand to the last, we will not leave here. We are on combat duty and helping civilians.' Later he confessed that they had not eaten anything, because they gave all the food to the hungry children. He talked about a large number of corpses. We last talked on March 25. He said: 'Mom, they are bombing here a lot. It's scary... I'm fine. Gotta go, there's no time.' The next day I was at work. For a while my heart tightened, I couldn't breathe. Probably at that moment my child was no more. Because soon the commander called and said that Igor had died. There was an air strike. Along with my child, 13 more of our soldiers died. This happened at the position 'Our corner'. In September, there was an exchange of bodies. The DNA result was provided to us only the next spring," said mother Lyudmyla Artemenko. "Igor was my son from my first marriage. My husband died when my son was not even 2 years old. My second husband became a father to him. He raised him as his own child. Igor called him dad. We also have two daughters. Igor adored them. He didn't spare anything for them. He bought the older one an iPhone, even though he had a cheap phone himself. For the younger one - rollers, which she dreamed of. He was a good son. A kind and humane boy. He achieved everything himself. After the army, he planned to marry his beloved girlfriend Vira. And all these plans were destroyed by Russia. It brought us so much grief that at 38 I became gray-haired," the warrior's mother added. At home, Igor was awaited by his parents and two younger sisters. The defender was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage of the III degree. In the village of Severynivka, where Igor was born, Naberezhnaya Street was renamed in his honor.