Sviatoslav M. Aleksapolskyi (Sviat)

Alexapol'skyi Sviatoslav Mykolaiovych was born on October 30, 1989 in the city of Saky, Autonomous Republic of Crimea. He studied at the secondary school in Saky and the Crimean Republican Boarding School for Gifted Children in the village of Tankove, Bakhchysarai district. From 1999 to 2001, he studied chess at the Simferopol Chess Club. In addition, he was involved in parkour, boxing, Greco-Roman wrestling, karate, kickboxing, Thai boxing, pankration, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Since 2005, he has been involved in the fan movement of the Simferopol football club "Tavria". From 2008 to 2012, he was a member of the "DSS" collective in Simferopol. Subsequently, he was a regular participant in the training of the young collective "Young boys". During his studies at the higher education institution in the summer of 2008, he studied and worked under the "Work & Travel USA" program in the state of Montana. In October 2009, he decided to go on conscript service, so he switched to distance learning. He served in the military unit 3027 "Bars" in the village of Novi Petrivtsi. In 2010, he served under contract as a reconnaissance soldier of the special forces reconnaissance company of the special forces battalion of the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine in Simferopol. In 2011, during his service, he completed the "Professional Intervention Technique" course from the French Gendarmerie in Saint-Astier. In 2012, he graduated from the Crimean Faculty of the Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts with a degree in Tourism, and had a guide-tour guide certificate with knowledge of English. In 2013, he received a seaman's passport: he visited many cities in Ukraine, as well as America, Hungary, Austria, Italy, Montenegro, and Croatia. Since 2012, he has been one of the leaders of the Simferopol fan movement and a representative of "Tavrida Boys". An active participant in the Crimean Euromaidan, he took part in all pro-Ukrainian actions in Crimea. After the annexation of Crimea and the beginning of persecution by the occupation authorities, he moved to Lviv and in 2014 joined the Azov battalion, was part of the 2nd company of the 4th battalion. In 2015, after the withdrawal of Azov from the frontline, he was discharged from service. In the fall of 2016, he joined the "Ze Radiola Team Lviv" team, performing in the Ukrainian championships in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He studied blacksmithing and welding, working in a Lviv forge. In the summer of 2017, Sviatoslav Alexapol'skyi signed a contract with the 25th Separate Airborne Brigade. Later he transferred to the 95th Separate Airborne Assault Brigade and moved to Kyiv to his fiancée. He made about a dozen parachute jumps. In 2019, he completed a course from Canadian instructors "Professional training of a combat medic of a platoon". In 2020, upon the expiration of the contract, he was discharged into the reserve and entered the National Defense University of Ukraine named after Ivan Cherniakhovskyi. He completed a course in entrepreneurial activity - in the future he planned to open centers for teaching civilian tactical medicine. From June 2021, he worked at Solvd Inc., holding the position of QA engineer in the "Under Armour" project. From the first days of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, having extensive combat experience, he returned to military service. At the first stage, he actively conducted professional training of members of volunteer formations, together with whom he directly participated in the defense of Kyiv and the liberation of the Kyiv region, in particular Irpin, Bucha and Vorzel. After the end of the battles in the Kyiv region, together with a group of Crimeans, he went to Mykolaiv, joining the volunteer unit "Buzkyi Guard". Commander of the reconnaissance platoon of the 220th battalion of the 126th separate territorial defense brigade. As part of the volunteers, he worked in the villages of Pervomaiske, Partyzanske, conducted reconnaissance in the areas of the villages of Nova Zoria and Tavriiske. In June 2022, in the area of the village of Andriivka, Mykolaiv region, during a battle under intense fire, he managed to evacuate and provide medical assistance to the severely wounded commander of the reconnaissance and tactical group "Hunter", taking command himself. He was killed on August 29, 2022 in a battle between the villages of Novohryhorivka and Liubomyrivka, Mykolaiv region. Sviatoslav Alexapol'skyi was cremated in Odesa. Part of his ashes were buried at the Baikove Cemetery, the other part is planned to be scattered in Greece and in the liberated Ukrainian Crimea.