Vitalii A. Postolaki (Apostol)

Vitaliy was born on February 20, 1965, into the family of Andriy and Kalyna Postolaki, a radio journalist and a teacher. He studied at Uzhhorod Secondary School No. 6 and later graduated from the Faculty of Romance and Germanic Philology at Uzhhorod State University. He worked in responsible positions at the Uzhhorod Customs, as Deputy Head and Head of the Internal Policy Department of the Uzhhorod City Council, and as Head of the Internal Policy Department of the Transcarpathian Regional State Administration. He actively participated in the socio-political and cultural life of Transcarpathia. He was a deputy of the regional council of the 5th convocation, secretary of the deputy commission for interaction with law enforcement agencies. For many years, he was elected to the board of the Transcarpathian Regional Cultural and Educational Society "Prosvita." In recent years, he engaged in entrepreneurship, running a small store for building and household materials in a new district of Uzhhorod. After the annexation of Crimea, despite his family's opposition, reserve major Postolaki applied several times to the military commissariat for conscription, but was denied. Only after a written appeal to the Minister of Defense and the Chief of the General Staff was he mobilized as a volunteer. Vasyl Ilnytskyi, a journalist, said: "Vitaliy Postolaki was a well-known figure in Transcarpathia. And not only because he managed to work in responsible positions before he turned 50. Above all, he was respected for his concern, acute sense of justice, which created many problems for him while working in bureaucratic positions, and his constant desire to be at the center of social events. In fact, his story of being called up to the army is also almost unique: Vitaliy's application to join the military was only approved after a personal written appeal to the Minister of Defense and the Chief of the General Staff. I think there are not many military personnel in the Ukrainian army today with such "protection." Postolaki was on the front line since August 2014. There he received the call sign Apostle and led the reconnaissance unit of the 128th Mountain Infantry Brigade. During a brief lull over the Christmas holidays, Vitaliy received a short leave home. Fate arranged it so that we accidentally met in the city center and immediately agreed on an interview. The conversation turned out to be frank, which determined the rather sharp overall tone of the interview and the critical assessments and judgments directed at the higher command and politicians, which "Den" published on January 23, the day Major-Scout returned to the front. "We rely only on ourselves," the major said at that time, characterizing the mood of our fighters, and explained why. The events that unfolded a few days later near Debaltseve unfortunately only confirmed the truth of his words… As a major, he did not sit in headquarters but was constantly at the epicenter of the toughest battles. At the same time, he not only maintained calm and composure but also instilled confidence in both his fighters and the civilian community. When asked about the situation, he always confidently said: "Everything is fine, everything is good, we are fighting." During one of the battles, he saved the life of Oleg Bondarenko — a serviceman of the 51st Separate Reconnaissance Battalion with the call sign Bird — personally carrying the wounded man out from under fire. The last time I spoke with Apostle on the phone was late in the evening on February 5, when the enemy was trying to encircle the 128th Brigade in bloody battles near Debaltseve, spreading panic information about its encirclement. Vitaliy then asked me to refute these rumors and, sending greetings to his small homeland, urged his fellow countrymen not to spread unverified information and to firmly believe in our victory over the enemy. A week later, Major Vitaliy Postolaki was no more. During an artillery shelling of the brigade's positions, a 120mm shell exploded 2-3 meters away from him. Eyewitnesses said he died instantly. Hearing this tragic and devastating news, I recalled almost everything I knew about him over many years of our acquaintance. Putting all the memories together, I realized that the slice of his life is largely a characteristic of today's Transcarpathia, too tight for the pain of his family not to touch thousands of others. Including me. Vitaliy's father, Andriy Fedorovych, an ethnic Transcarpathian Romanian and a radio journalist, was someone I was fortunate to work with in the same team for several years in my youth. His mother, Kalyna Mykolaivna, a Ukrainian and a foreign language teacher, once taught my wife at school. They raised not only a wonderful person who honestly did his job and lived truthfully but also a brave patriot who loved his land very much, especially Ukraine. The last journey home was difficult and long for Apostle. According to the testimonies of servicemen, the "Ural" vehicle, which was transporting the bodies of 12 fallen defenders of Debaltseve, including Major Vitaliy Postolaki, was hit by an enemy shell near the village of Novohryhorivka in the Artemivsk district. Most of the bodies were severely burned. Later, the bodies of the "second" killed Ukrainian soldiers were seized by militants and taken to the morgue in Luhansk. Only on February 27 did volunteers, including Nela Knyazeva, manage to exchange the bodies and deliver them to Dnipropetrovsk. After the identification procedure on March 11, a plane from the 25th Transport Aviation Brigade delivered Apostle to his hometown. The next day, the officer was buried with full honors on the Hill of Glory in Uzhhorod, and the city council deputies received a request from an initiative group to name one of the squares in the city after V. Postolaki. Uzhhorod sincerely shared the irreparable grief with Vitaliy Postolaki's mother Kalyna Mykolaivna, his wife Olena, and his daughters Maryna and Daryna, as well as his father-in-law Oleksiy Korsun's family. The hero-defender did not live a few days to his 50th birthday, which was to come on February 20. In our memory, he will remain the Apostle of the invincibility of the Ukrainian spirit. Heroes do not die!