Rostyslav O. Shyiko (Drohobych)

Shyiko Rostyslav Orestovych was born on July 23, 1989, in Lviv. He studied at the V. Stus Lyceum of International Relations. From childhood, he was intolerant of all things Russian. Even in preschool, he burned election posters and propaganda of the Communist Party that he found in the entrances. He was involved in sports, particularly football and boxing. He graduated from the Lviv Polytechnic National University. At the age of 16, he first came to the fan sector of the "Ukraine" stadium. This became the most significant event for him, which he recalled with such enthusiasm that it was impossible to describe in words. Further, he had over a hundred trips for his native club and the national team, numerous performances, banners, graffiti, stickers, promotion of "Karpaty" branded t-shirts, fights with other fan movements, friends in every Ukrainian city, insurgent songs in the sector, and the phrase "Ukraine above all" - not just a slogan, but the meaning of his existence. He was a participant in the Orange Revolution and later the Revolution of Dignity. He was a volunteer and, from 2015, a fighter in the Azov Regiment, defending the country's integrity during the ATO. He was a mortar gunner. On his birthday, July 23, he took the oath of allegiance to the Ukrainian people and kept it. Whatever Rostyslav did for the victory, it always seemed to him that it was not enough. Becoming a father in 2016 and having less time for activist affairs, he successfully began to run the blog "Military History." His knowledge of world and Ukrainian history was bottomless. He studied the history of the Balkan Wars, the Vietnam War, and the participation of Ukrainians in it in detail. He appeared on a TV program about military conflicts on the 24th channel. Every year on Independence Day, he bought blue and yellow ribbons and tied them with his little daughters on the graves of the Sich Riflemen at the Yaniv Cemetery. The memory and honor of the feats of past generations permeated his entire being. With the start of the full-scale invasion, Rostyslav immediately took up arms. Without hesitation, he went to the military registration and enlistment office, but due to a number of circumstances, he could not go to the front, which greatly depressed him. For 5 months, he sought permission to be sent to the East of the country as part of his 103rd Territorial Defense Brigade. He was killed on October 15, 2022, as a result of an anti-tank mine explosion during the defense of the Luhansk region. The fallen warrior left behind a wife and two small daughters.