Ihor Yu. Levchuk

Sergeant 1st Class Ihor Levchuk (call sign Ace) died on April 15, 2022, in Mariupol, Donetsk region. During the defense of the city, he sustained injuries incompatible with life. The warrior was forever 33 years old. Ihor was born in the village of Telmanova (now the village of Boikivske) in the Donetsk region. He graduated from the Faculty of Criminal Police of the Donetsk Law Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. He worked as an operative in the criminal department of the Telmanova district police department. Due to the occupation of his native village in 2014, he moved with his family to Mariupol. He worked in the police. In 2021, he joined the ranks of the 23rd Marine Guard detachment. With the beginning of the full-scale invasion, he joined the "Stork" cover group of the separate special forces unit of the National Guard of Ukraine "Azov". The son in the border guard service refused a managerial position. He wanted to start from scratch. When the big war began, the Azov fighters organized the defense of Mariupol. Ihor was the first of 25 volunteer marine guards who agreed to defend the city with them. On February 28, he called at night: "Mom, how are you there? We're all good here. I'm alive, everything is normal. It's hard, but we're working. We've gathered and united, we'll stand here. If I don't defend, who will be the second, the third to defend? That's it, mom, bye." On March 1, the connection was lost. He called at the end of March. He said: "I'm doing well. I love my daughters very much. Mom, you can be proud of me. I'm fighting like a lion. Everything will be fine, everything will be Ukraine." Those were his last words. We found out that on the night of April 15, our son died. Cremation took place on July 8, 2022, in Kyiv. The urn with the ashes of the son is with me. We are waiting for the construction of the Glory Memorial in Kyiv, where a place should be allocated for the heroes-defenders of Mariupol. So that the whole country knows and forever remembers our heroes. A photo of my son, along with photos of other fallen defenders, is placed in Cherkasy: on the Glory Square and on the wall of the Memorial of Memory. Ihor left behind a mother, sister, and three daughters. The warrior was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage of the III degree.