Taras M. Kozlyshyn (Karai)

Kozlishyn Taras Mykolaiovych was born on May 24, 1980 in Rivne. He lived in Kyiv. He studied at secondary school No. 23, then at the Rivne Lyceum-Boarding School. From 1997 to 2002, he studied at the Rivne Institute of Slavic Studies of the Kyiv Slavic University, Faculty of International Relations, majoring in "International Area Studies". In 2002, he entered the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Faculty of International Relations, where he studied in the master's program "TEMPUS TACIS". For some time, he worked at the National Mediation and Reconciliation Service. Taras spoke about the inevitability of war as early as 2004. Also, since 2004, he studied at the Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (Germany). In 2015, after training, he joined the OUN Volunteer Battalion and participated in combat operations as a private, rifleman, machine gunner, and scout. From the beginning of 2015 to July 2016, he fought in the village of Pisky, from June 2016 to July 2017 - in the village of Krymske. During 4 rotations, he was wounded four times and had a concussion. He was repeatedly at the front line as a volunteer, as well as as part of aerial reconnaissance. Since November 24, 2015, he has been the commander of the OUN-Prykarpattia reserve company, the head of the training course. Since August 2016, he has been the deputy head of the OUN Volunteer Movement for political issues. When he was not participating in combat operations, he organized photo exhibitions that informed the public about the real events taking place in the east of the country; runs in memory of fallen comrades; for a certain period he was a presenter on Radio "Voice of Donbas". In February 2022, Taras again took up arms to defend his native land. He died from a serious wound received in battle with the invaders near the Beresteiska metro station on February 26, 2022. On March 1, 2022, he was buried in Rivne, in the Alley of Heroes of the "Nove" cemetery.