Vasyl M. Kozak

Senior Sergeant Vasyl Kozak was killed on February 4, 2023, in a battle with the occupiers in the area of the village of Oleksandropil in the Donetsk region. The defender was 47 years old. Vasyl was born in the village of Bystryk, Zhytomyr region. He graduated from school there. At the age of 18, he joined the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. He dreamed of his own house and family. He settled in Kyiv and met his beloved Viktoria, with whom he married in 1996. Three years later, the couple had a son, Maksym, whom they had been eagerly awaiting. The boy became a joy for the man, Vasyl was the happiest dad, who was happy with all his son's successes and achievements and was always there to support him. Over time, the family moved to Vasyl's native village, to his mother Olha, whom the man helped with household chores. He often visited his sister Maiya and her family. In 2020, after his mother's death, he returned to Kyiv and got a job in a security company. He tried to establish a further life, did not give up and took up his goals again. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, in March 2022, the man was voluntarily mobilized into the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He served in the separate Presidential Brigade named after Bohdan Khmelnytskyi. "Vasyl was a support for our family and a strong support for his sister Maiya. For me and my sister, he was the best friend who always advised what to do. He loved his son very much, rejoiced in all his successes and beginnings. He was fair and courageous, as his comrades-in-arms, with whom he stood shoulder to shoulder, holding positions worthily," said the deceased's niece and goddaughter Valentyna Hushcha. The warrior was buried in his native village in the Zhytomyr region. He is survived by his wife Vita, son Maksym, sister Maiya, nephews, other relatives, friends, and comrades-in-arms. Vasyl was posthumously awarded the MOD "Badge of Honor" distinction.