Serhii M. Patlatiuk (Bob)

Soldier Serhii Patlatiuk (call sign Bob) died on April 20, 2023 in his first battle with the occupiers near the city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region. The defender was 25 years old. Serhii was from the village of Kopaihorod in the Vinnytsia region. After the 9th grade, he entered the Vinnytsia Center for Vocational Education No. 1 and obtained the qualifications of plasterer, tiler, and painter. He then did his military service, and later wanted to sign a contract. However, his mother was against this decision, so the young man remained a civilian. Later, the family moved to Kyiv. There, he got a job at Nova Poshta, first as a scanner and then as a specialist in the depot. Colleagues remember that he took his work very seriously. He had a pleasant and sociable character. He found a common language with everyone and was friends with the team. In the first days of the full-scale invasion, Serhii immediately joined the Kyiv Territorial Defense Forces. In April 2022, he was drafted into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Later, he became a rifleman in the 46th Separate Airmobile Brigade. He underwent extensive training, was stationed on the border with Belarus while the threat of an offensive from that direction continued. Later, due to the intense fighting in the Bakhmut direction, he went there. On April 18, the soldier arrived in Bakhmut. The next day, he called his mother, told her that he was going on a mission, and would not be in touch. A few days later, the commander informed her that her son was no longer alive. "It's so easy to imagine you alive that it's impossible to believe in your death. He was loving, well-mannered and kind. He had many friends, always helped everyone and never refused anyone," said the sister of the fallen Iryna Kasenko. The soldier was buried in his native village. At home, Serhii was awaited by his mother, sister and grandmother.