Vitalii D. Melnyk (Butan)

Sergeant Vitaliy Melnyk (call sign Bhutan) was killed on November 17, 2023, while carrying out combat missions near the village of Pavlivka in the Donetsk region. The military man was 53 years old. Vitaliy was born and lived in Kyiv. In 1994, he graduated from the Kyiv Shipbuilding Technical School with a specialty in "Radio Equipment Manufacturing". From September 2018, he held the position of mechanic-adjuster at LLC "Papirus-Universal". He was a jack-of-all-trades and a true skilled master. He loved to wear embroidered shirts. He wrote poems. He devoted a lot of time to his beloved wife and son. The couple loved going to the theater. With the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, the man took up the defense of the Motherland, as he considered it his duty. He fought in the ranks of the 58th separate motorized infantry brigade named after Hetman Ivan Vyhovsky. He held the position of senior rifleman - operator of the 15th separate battalion. In the summer of 2023, during the defense of the Donetsk region, he was wounded in the Bakhmut direction. During the same period, he wrote a poem for his wife: "Spring is not the same... I miss you. Your gentle hand. Warm embraces, kisses. And the whisper "I love you"... We are powerless to do anything about it. We must hold on together. Even though we are far apart - the power of OUR LOVE is with us. Together we will overcome the separation. My BELOVED. I AM WITH YOU." "Vitaliy will be remembered to me for life as a brave, courageous, strong Hero! He was kind, sincere and cheerful, as well as a true Ukrainian who loved Ukraine above all else, loved life, deeply loved his wife and always honored the memory of his grandfather-veteran," his sister Lyudmyla Chepurko said. The warrior was buried on November 27, 2023, in the Alley of Glory of the Berkovets cemetery in the capital. Vitaliy is survived by his parents Dmytro Ulyanovich and Halyna Vasylivna, his brother-serviceman Vadym, his wife Lyudmyla, his son Artem, as well as relatives, friends and comrades-in-arms.