Illia I. Kupriianov (Kharkiv)

Junior Sergeant Illia Kupriianov (call sign Kharkiv) died on December 20, 2022 in the hospital in Dnipro from a combat injury. While performing a combat mission in the area of Fedorivka village in Donetsk region, the defender sustained 99% body burns as a result of a direct hit by an enemy kamikaze drone on the positions of the Ukrainian defenders. On December 10, the soldier turned 25 years old. Illia was born in Kharkiv. He graduated from the Kharkiv State Automobile and Road College. In 2018, he went on conscript military service, and later decided to sign a contract with the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He served in the 26th Artillery Brigade named after General-Cornet Roman Dashkevych. He was a senior gunner of a self-propelled artillery division. He participated in the Joint Forces Operation in Donbas. Illia met the full-scale war on the positions of Donbas as part of his unit. From the first days, he continued to fight for Ukraine. "The son was always with a smile, like the sun. Very positive and caring. He has been in the ranks of the Armed Forces since 2018, half a year of conscript service, and then signed a contract, which was supposed to end in May 2022. This damned war caught him in the Donetsk region, where the guys also met the enemy on the positions," said the mother of the fallen Daria. The warrior was buried in the village of Mala Danylivka in the Kharkiv region. At home, Illia was awaited by his parents and grandfather.