Viktor H. Budish

Sergeant Viktor Budish was killed on August 5, 2023, at the I. Mechnikov Dnipropetrovsk Regional Hospital. On July 2, he sustained a gunshot shrapnel wound while carrying out a combat mission near the village of Preobrazhenska in the Zaporizhia region. The defender was 33 years old. Viktor was a native of the village of Minkivtsi, Ternopil region. He obtained a secondary education. He worked abroad for some time. However, he later decided to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine and found his calling in the military. Since 2020, he has been serving under contract in the 44th separate artillery brigade named after Hetman Danylo Apostol. He underwent training and was subsequently promoted. He was known as a responsible and disciplined fighter. He had two rotations in the area of the Joint Forces Operation in the Donetsk region. At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, together with his comrades-in-arms, he held the defense of the "Kyiv-Zhytomyr" highway, where they successfully repelled the attack of the occupiers and forced them to retreat to a great distance. He later went to defend the Zaporizhia direction. "A very responsible and disciplined person. Everyone who knew him will never forget his smile. For his comrades-in-arms, Viktor was not only a God-given commander, but also an example, a person who could solve any problems. After his death, his comrades-in-arms said: 'Thanks to Vitya, we had everything and for this we had nothing,'" said the sister of the fallen Yulia Tymofiieva. Viktor was buried in his native village. The defender is survived by his parents, sister, and son. The defender was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage, Third Degree. In October 2023, a memorial plaque was unveiled in the Minkivtsi village council of the Dunaivtsi community in his honor.