Vitalii M. Kusik (Kus)

34-year-old soldier Vitaliy Kusik (call sign Kus) was killed on May 11, 2023, while carrying out a combat mission in the area of the village of Krenydivka in the Sumy region. During the attack of enemy drones, he received fatal injuries. Six more comrades-in-arms also perished with him. Vitaliy was from the village of Holovnytsia in the Rivne region. In 2007, he graduated from the Korets Higher Vocational School and obtained the profession of a tractor-machine operator. Since 2012, he lived in the village of Bilohorodka in the Kyiv region. There he got married and started a family. He worked at a furniture enterprise. During the full-scale invasion, on March 18, 2022, the man went as a volunteer to defend Ukraine. He joined the ranks of the 101st separate brigade of the territorial defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He held the position of a rifleman in the 68th battalion. "He was kind, polite, and always helped everyone. He was a good father and husband. He loved not to put off life for later, but to live today. This damned war took the best man and the best father! He was always cheerful, focused on returning with victory. We will never forget you. Eternal memory to you and your comrades-in-arms," wrote the wife of the fallen. The defender was buried in the central cemetery in the village of Bilohorodka in the Kyiv region. At home, Vitaliy was awaited by his mother Halyna, wife Olha, daughter Yana, and sons Artem and Sashko. The youngest was 5 months old at the time of his father's death.