Ivan V. Prokipchyn (Troian)

42-year-old machine gunner Ivan Prokipchin (call sign Trojan) was killed on August 25, 2022, in battles for Kherson region. Ivan was born in the village of Tysiv in Ivano-Frankivsk region. He had incomplete higher education, worked in the service sector abroad. Then he returned to Ukraine and got a job at a leather factory in the city of Bolekhiv, Ivano-Frankivsk region. Ivan always had an active civic position, was a patriot. During the Revolution of Dignity, he fought for the right to a sovereign and European path for Ukraine on the Maidan. In 2015, he voluntarily joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine and went to the ATO zone for 6 long years. When he returned from the war, he worked in Kyiv from the spring of 2021. When the full-scale war began, Ivan could not stay away and joined the 206th battalion of territorial defense in the first days. He took part in battles for Kyiv region. "It's nice when the night is quiet, it was quiet in Kyiv. With which I congratulate everyone. Let's be together, united, and preserve our loved ones," Trojan wrote on his page in March. After the enemy retreated from the capital, Ivan's battalion was sent to defend southern Ukraine. On August 19, 2022, in Kherson region, Trojan's comrades Yurii Karakai and Denys Kulikov . Ivan finished the battle, did not allow the occupier to advance further, carried his comrades on his shoulders, returned to the positions and continued to serve. On the day of Karakai's funeral, August 25, 2022, at 14:30, Trojan was killed during an enemy tank shelling. Comrades remember Ivan as a smart, hardworking and reliable fighter. "I had significant differences with Trojan in views, although we were in the same political camp. We even agreed to discuss this sometime. But overall, these moments had no negative impact on our daily interaction in the unit. And we worked very productively," wrote Dmytro Penkovsky. Ivan left behind his parents, brother, wife, and son.