Serhii V. Lobko (Lom)

Sergeant Serhiy Lobko (call sign Lom) was killed on July 12, 2023, while performing a combat mission near the village of Bilohorivka in the Luhansk region. The defender received fatal shrapnel wounds as a result of an enemy mine explosion. The fighter was forever 27 years old. Serhiy was born in the city of Myrnograd, Donetsk region. He graduated from the local secondary school No. 9. Then he studied at a college, specializing in "Banking", and also graduated from the Myrnograd Professional Mining Lyceum. Later, he chose the path of a military and signed a contract. In his free time, he was engaged in sports, attending a boxing section since his teenage years and winning tournaments. Since 2017, he has been serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He carried out combat missions in the ATO/JFO zone. During the full-scale invasion, he held the position of commander of the reconnaissance platoon of the reconnaissance company of the 81st separate airmobile brigade. Serhiy was responsible and persistent. Cheerful, always joking a lot. He chose the profession of a military, despite the persuasion of his family. From the first days of the war, he was on the zero positions in hot spots. He was seriously wounded near Izyum in April 2022, but returned to the front in the fall. He received the second wound in February 2023, and in May he was already with his comrades-in-arms. Serhiy felt responsible for his guys and, despite the opportunity to rehabilitate, he still went with his comrades to continue defending Ukraine. He always found the words to comfort and raise the spirits of his loved ones. After sending his family to safe places in Western Ukraine, he bravely served and always said: "We will definitely win! After all, we cannot leave the war as a legacy to our children!" Comrades-in-arms call Serhiy a true hero, grateful for the fact that he always took care of his guys. Despite all the difficulties, he managed to return the guys who were taken prisoner, and evacuate the wounded fighters from the battlefield. When his relatives asked him to return home and not participate in military actions anymore, he said that he was a commander and his task was to do everything to ensure that his guys returned to their families alive. Serhiy loved Ukraine, his native Donetsk region and dreamed that his daughter Milana, whom he adored, would grow up in a free and flourishing country, said his sister Marichka. The defender was buried in the Alley of Glory of the Ozerka cemetery in his native Myrnograd. Serhiy is survived by his parents, sister, wife and daughter, who was 2 years old at the time of his death.