Vadym Y. Zabrotskyi

Born on June 17, 1979, in the city of Zhytomyr. In 1994, he graduated from the 9th grade of secondary school No. 22 in Zhytomyr, and in 1996 - from secondary school. Since 1996, he has been in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In 2001, he graduated from the Kharkiv Tank Institute of the National Technical University "Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute." He served in the 95th Separate Airborne Brigade of the High Mobility Airborne Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (military unit A0281, Zhytomyr). From May to October 2007, he participated in a peacekeeping mission in Kosovo. Since the spring of 2014, he participated in the Anti-Terrorist Operation in eastern Ukraine. On May 13, 2014, while carrying out a combat mission to escort 82mm mortar crews 2B-9 and supplies to checkpoints on the outskirts of the settlement of Oktyabrskoye in the Sloviansk district of Donetsk region, around 12:30 PM, the convoy was ambushed. Militants attacked with grenade launchers and opened heavy fire with small arms. More than 30-40 attackers had arrived in the ambush in advance and were positioned along the river in the bushes. The first shots from grenade launchers hit the engine of the second armored personnel carrier, which caught fire, and the GAZ-66 vehicle. The servicemen engaged in battle, resulting in the deaths of 6 servicemen and 8 sustaining injuries of varying severity. Major Zabrotsky was also killed in the battle. On May 17, 2014, he was buried in the cemetery of the village of Svytyn in the Zhytomyr district of Zhytomyr region. On May 22, 2015, a memorial plaque was installed in the city of Zhytomyr on the facade of secondary school No. 22 named after V.M. Kavun (36 Kosmonavtiv Street), where Vadym Zabrotsky studied.