Vasyl A. Okushko

29-year-old gunner Vasyl Okushko was killed on September 26, 2022, while performing a combat mission near the village of Hryanykivka in the Kharkiv region. The soldier sustained a fatal shrapnel wound to the head during enemy shelling. Vasyl was born in the village of Holovnytsia in the Rivne region. He stu at the local secondary school. He then trained as a cook at the Klevan Professional School. In 2011, he served in the mandatory military service. In his free time, he loved going to the forest and picking mushrooms. In the spring of 2019, Vasyl signed a contract to serve in the 14th Separate Mechanized Brigade named after Prince Roman the Great. He repeatedly carried out combat missions in the area of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO). From the first day of the full-scale war, on February 24, 2022, he participated in the defense of the Kyiv region, holding back the advance of Russian occupiers. "Vasylko was a very good, caring, and joyful person. He had many friends and loved life," said the defender's sister, Maria. On December 29, Vasyl's birthday, his sister wrote: "Not every birthday is a happy one… Today, my brother, you should have turned 30, but... You have forever closed your bright eyes, and your equally bright smile has faded. We prayed for you every night, but still, the cursed war took you away." Vasyl was buried in his native village in Rivne region. He is survived by his mother and sister.