Pavlo O. Yepifantsev (Yefiop)

Sergeant Major Pavlo Yepifantsev (call sign Ethiop) was killed on February 14, 2024. He sustained a mine-explosive injury incompatible with life while carrying out a combat mission near the village of Georgiivka in the Donetsk region. The warrior did not live to see his 25th birthday by two weeks. Pavlo was born in the Zhytomyr region in a large family. After completing secondary education, he graduated from the Zhytomyr Technological Professional College of the Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture with a degree in Computer Engineering. In civilian life, he worked at a fencing structures factory in Zhytomyr. He was interested in cars. In 2019, he began a military career, signing a contract with the 72nd Separate Mechanized Brigade named after the Black Zaporozhians. During the full-scale war, he was assigned to the 95th Separate Airborne Assault Brigade. He participated in the liberation of the Kyiv region from Russian invaders. Later, Pavlo was transferred to the 46th Separate Airmobile Brigade, where he held the position of company sergeant major. He was awarded the Order of Courage of the III degree. "He was an exceptionally good person, a loving father, son, husband and brother. For his mother, he was the first, most desired child, who grew up very early, because he had to be an example for his younger brothers and sisters, as well as a support for his parents. He did not lack love and care, and he was always sincere in return. A sunny person! Although he looks so courageous and brutal on the outside, he is the kindest person inside, who will always help in a difficult moment. I love him with all my heart," said his fiancée Sophia. The warrior was buried at the Smolyansky Military Cemetery in Zhytomyr. His fiancée Sophia, mother Olena, father Oleh, brothers Tymofii and Petro, sisters Polina and Yeva, children Yelyzaveta and Maksym, and the unborn third child did not get to wait for the defender.