Vitalii M. Derekh

Vitaliy Myroslavovych Derekh was born on September 3, 1987 in Ternopil. He graduated from the Halytskyi College named after Viacheslav Chornovil. He worked as a journalist for the newspaper "20 minutes". In 2013, he went on an expedition to South Africa and Madagascar on behalf of the editorial office. He was an active participant in the Revolution of Dignity as part of the 15th company of the Maidan self-defense. He rescued people on Instytutska Street on February 20, 2014. He was a member of the 29th detachment of the Ukrainian Youth Association (Plast) named after Yurii Starosolskyi, and later, together with his group "Grey Wolves", he was in the 77th detachment named after Ivan Havdyda, where he was the organizer when he moved to the senior Plast members. He was a participant and instructor of the military-patriotic camp "Legion". In 2014, he volunteered for the Aidar battalion and fought until July 2015. In 2016-2018, he worked in the Municipal Guard of Ivano-Frankivsk, including as a rescuer. With the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, he joined the 1st separate special purpose brigade named after Ivan Bohun, as part of which he took part in battles near Kyiv and later in Luhansk region. He commanded an anti-tank weapons team, which destroyed many units of enemy equipment and personnel. He saved the lives of many comrades. Under the command of Vitaliy Derekh, the ATGM "Stugna-P" team destroyed 15 enemy vehicles in May 2022. He was killed on May 28, 2022 as a result of an air strike near Popasna, Luhansk region. He was buried on June 2, 2022 in the Alley of Heroes of the Mykulyntsi cemetery in Ternopil.