Ivan S. Sobko (Sova)

Senior soldier Ivan Sobko (call sign Owl) was killed on April 10, 2023 in the area of the village of Novohryhorivka in the Donetsk region. The fighter was in a vehicle while carrying out a combat mission. He was killed as a result of a direct hit of an enemy shell on the vehicle. On April 2, he turned 25 years old. Ivan was from the village of Lyubopil in the Odesa region. He lived in Odesa. He obtained the profession of a car mechanic at the Yuzhne Vocational and Technical School No. 2. He worked in the "Obzhora" and "Silpo" store networks, holding the position of senior security guard. He was interested in cars. Since 2016, he has been participating in the ATO as part of the 28th separate mechanized brigade named after the Knights of the Winter Campaign. With the start of the full-scale war, the man was mobilized to his native brigade and again went to the front. He took part in battles in the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions. He was injured, and after treatment, he immediately returned to his comrades-in-arms. Then he was awarded the badge "Honor and Glory". Later, as part of his unit, he ended up in the Donetsk region, where he accepted his last battle. "Our Ivan was the best of the best: loving, sincere, kind, always cheerful and smiling, like a ray of sunshine. He was ready to come to the rescue at any moment. My children adored him, called him Big Vanya and dreamed that he would return from the war and take them for a ride on a tank. Our Ivan was devoted to his cause, repeatedly saved his comrades-in-arms on the battlefield, risking his own life. We are very proud of him, we love and remember him. We miss him very much..." said the wife of the deceased's brother, Lyubov Sobko. The warrior was buried in his native village. Ivan is survived by his parents, brother, wife, daughter, loving relatives, friends and comrades-in-arms.