Oleksii V. Pobihai (Zaiets)

47-year-old volunteer of the local territorial defense Oleksiy Pobihay was tortured to death in March 2022 in his native Bucha. Oleksiy lived all his life in the Kyiv region. He obtained a secondary technical education and worked in the restaurant business for many years. He was a bartender, completed courses and became a sommelier. Later, he opened a cafe in the courtyard of his own house. He was involved in volunteering and helped the Ukrainian military. In his free time, he loved to search for ancient coins using a metal detector. From the first days of the full-scale war, Oleksiy, as a member of the public formation for the protection of public order and the state border "Bucha Guard", stood up to defend his native city as part of the territorial defense. Together with other residents, he guarded the Novus supermarket. He did not want to leave, as he believed he had to help his neighbors. He delivered food to the elderly. On March 13, during the so-called cleansing of the city by the occupiers, Oleksiy and his companion were taken prisoner. The men were beaten and taken away in an unknown direction. That day, they were last seen alive. Neighbors informed their relatives about this. Oleksiy's brother constantly tried to find any traces of him. He hoped that he was in captivity. Unfortunately, the miracle did not happen. After half a year, in the forest near the village of Myrotske, where the positions of the occupiers were in the spring, mutilated bodies with traces of torture were found. One of them belonged to SBU officer Oleksiy Telihenko, the other to Oleksiy Pobihay. On September 19, Oleksiy was buried in the Alley of Glory in Bucha. He is survived only by a cousin.