Taras I. Stelmakh

Born on January 15, 1975, in the city of Lviv. Graduated from secondary school No. 53 in Lviv (now the "Prestige" gymnasium) and Lviv State Medical College (now the Higher Educational Communal Institution of the Lviv Regional Council "Lviv Medical College named after Andrey Krupynsky"). In May 2014, he was mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He served as a sanitary instructor in the reconnaissance company of the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (military unit A0998, city of Yavoriv, Lviv region). From June 2014, he participated in the anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine. On August 7, 2014, around 7:00 AM, Junior Sergeant Stelmakh was killed as a result of a shell hitting the sanitary vehicle he was in while escorting the wounded near the urban-type settlement of Pobeda in the Snizhne City Council of Donetsk region. Senior Soldier Pavlo Koval was killed alongside him. He was initially buried near the urban-type settlement of Pobeda. On October 8, 2014, the burial was discovered and exhumed by the searchers of the "Evacuation-200" Mission ("Black Tulip"). Taras Stelmakh was identified through DNA testing. On December 16, 2014, he was buried in the field of Honorary Burials No. 76 at Lychakiv Cemetery in Lviv.