Roman M. Holub (Krafter)

Roman Myronovych Holub (call sign Krafter) was born on February 11, 1997, in Ivano-Frankivsk. He graduated from Lyceum No. 21 named after Yevhen Konovalets in Ivano-Frankivsk. In the early days of the full-scale invasion, he left his hometown of Ivano-Frankivsk to participate in the defense of Kyiv, joining the volunteer battalion "Svoboda." Roman recalled, "When rockets are flying at you and an army is approaching nearby, you can't wait or sit still. I left my hometown for Kyiv — I just got into a volunteer's car without even knowing where fate would take me." Krafter underwent his combat baptism in Irpin. Later, the volunteer joined the ranks of the National Guard of Ukraine and participated in the bloody battles for Sievierodonetsk, Zaitseve, and Bakhmut. Roman was wounded and concussed multiple times but returned to duty each time, alongside his comrades. Nothing could stop his desire to defend his country and friends. Despite his young age, Roman had immense respect in the battalion, especially from fighters who viewed him as a son. He was a brave warrior who always went into the heart of the battle. He learned quickly, mastering more and more military professions, and had immense personal and military charisma. Comrades remember: "Krafter was a strong-willed person. He had a clear life stance, great authority in the team, and always kept his word. You could count on him in critical situations. Roma had incredible energy; he was brave and merciless towards the enemy." Once, the enemy began an assault when there was no communication at the position. Roman was at another position and, receiving the order, ran fearlessly across a field under enemy fire to warn his unit and prepare the defense. The assault was repelled. A quote from an interview Roman gave after successfully storming enemy positions near Bakhmut: "Even the preparation for the assault was difficult — 5 hours in the cold rain, we approached their positions unnoticed through the swamps. And although we were quite exhausted by that time, we realized we still had to carry out the assault. It was morally uplifting that our commander Skif was going into battle with us. When a commander goes into battle with his soldiers, it means a lot. He pulled us out of extremely difficult situations both then and in Sievierodonetsk, so I had no doubt about our success. We pushed the enemy from their positions and established a defense. Every success we had was due to the tireless work of reconnaissance, infantry, artillery, and logistics, but it can't be any other way because no one intends to give up." "He was a very cinematic hero. The camera loved him, and he lived like in a movie. Before the war, he had expensive cars, parties with friends, a beautiful girlfriend, stylish clothes, a unique way of communicating, an actor's appearance, and hairstyle. He fought like the main character in a movie: always at the hottest spot, always ready to help a comrade — both physically and morally, he never backed down. When we were leaving Voronove (a village in Luhansk region, near Sievierodonetsk) — he carried the heaviest load, the 'NLAW.' He was out of breath, cursing, but he kept going. When grenades and mines exploded nearby, he always remained unharmed; we even joked that Krafter had a magical aura that prevented grenades from working in his vicinity. Even in war, he always remained stylish and took his choice of equipment very seriously. We called him Kraken and the main face of the National Guard. And he died like in a movie. Twelve hours before his death, we talked; he sent me a video wishing our comrade a happy birthday. As always, he joked; those hellish conditions at the front didn’t break his spirit. We talked about how great he was, how he had blossomed in his role as a leader, how he stopped being someone who followed and started to lead. Then Krafter went on a mission, where a treacherous bullet caught him. An hour and a half of waiting after prior information and until confirmation became personal hell for us. His film ended, and we miss the brightest among us infinitely," recounts the hero's comrade with the call sign Burger. During his last rotation, Roman worked as a sapper on the front line, where enemies and death lurked at every turn. But it was not a mine that took the hero's life. On December 30, 2023, Roman was killed by an enemy sniper during fighting on the eastern front.