Stepan V. Bazhyk (Khudozhnyk)

Soldier Stepan Bazhyk (call sign Artist) was killed in a hospital in Vinnytsia on February 21, 2023. While carrying out a combat mission in the area of the settlement of Opytne in the Donetsk region on December 16, 2022, he received a shrapnel wound. For more than 2 months, doctors fought for his life. On March 1, the soldier would have turned 29 years old. Stepan was born in the village of Kozyna, Ivano-Frankivsk region. He studied at the Kalush College of Culture and Arts, majoring in Fine Arts. He then continued his studies at the Lviv branch of M. Poplavskyi University and later at the Vasyl Stefanyk Precarpathian National University. He was interested in cars, cycling, music, and loved to draw. He worked in a workshop for wood and metal products. In August 2022, the man was mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He underwent training in the United Kingdom, then went to the front as part of the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade named after King Danylo. He held the position of a grenade launcher. "Such as he are once in a lifetime..." wrote Natalia Bazhyk, the sister of the fallen. Stepan was buried in his native village. The defender left behind his parents, sister, and fiancée.