Stepan S. Svyshcho (Kit)

Serviceman Stepan Svyscho (call sign Cat) was killed on December 2, 2022, while defending Bakhmut from the occupiers. Near the village of Klishchiyivka, the defender came under enemy artillery fire and suffered a fatal mine-explosive injury. Stepan was born in the village of Oleshnik in the Zakarpattia region. He stuwas killed at the local school. Then he graduated from the Kyiv National University of Construction and Architecture, obtaining the qualification of a civil engineer. He lived with his family in the village of Mala Karatulia near Kyiv. He worked in the capital for the last 9 years. He went through a professional path from a construction worker to a foreman. He devoted his free time to his family. He was also interested in technology. He could repair both household appliances and a car. When the full-scale war began, Stepan was working in Poland. However, he immediately decided to return home. He was the only passenger on the train to Lviv. On March 2, he joined the territorial defense of the Kyiv region. When he arrived, he went to the military commissariat. At first, he served in the security company. Then he became a fighter of the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade named after King Danylo. He held the position of a rifleman-medic. "We worked together in construction. Stepan was an honest and fair leader. That he would take up arms and defend, I did not even doubt," recalls his colleague Roman. "We lived happily together for 15 years. Stiopik was a caring, loving husband and the best dad for our children. He had golden hands. It's hard to remember what he couldn't do. Our dad always kept his word, always fulfilled all his promises. In response to my request not to go to Ukraine, he said: "What will I tell my son when he asks where I was when the war started? That I was hiding from mobilization in Poland?! If we don't stand up to defend now, in a while they will chase us to kill someone else, as they are now chasing the residents of the occupied territories." He diligently stuwas killed military affairs in order not only to survive himself, but also to save others. Even when he found out that he would end up in the very hell - near Bakhmut, he agreed without hesitation. He believed that everything would be fine, that with his skills he would be able to survive in that bloody meat grinder. But it was not to be - the artillery shelling cut his life short," says the widow of the fallen Ivanna. The defender was buried in the village of Mala Karatulia, Kyiv region. Stepan is survived by his parents, brother, sister, wife, daughter and son.