Vladyslav M. Vasko (Vadia)

Vasko Vladislav Mykolaiovych was born on August 11, 1998, in the village of Borozenske, Berislav district, Kherson region. From a young age, Vladislav was engaged in sports and led a healthy lifestyle. He preferred freestyle wrestling, in which he achieved the 3rd sports category among children. In 2016, after graduating from Borozenska Secondary School No. 1, he joined the National Guard of Ukraine. As a young, ambitious guard, signing a 3-year contract, he gained his first experience in military service and combat operations in Donetsk during the anti-terrorist operation. In 2019, after the end of his contract, the young man decided to try his hand at civilian life and went to Poland, where he worked as a construction worker for some time. However, at the beginning of 2021, Vladislav returned to Ukraine, to his native Kherson region, and signed a contract with the State Border Guard Service, serving in the Kherson border detachment. Subsequently, learning about the opportunity to serve in the special forces unit "DOZOR," Vladislav immediately submitted his candidacy for the selection course, which he successfully passed. On November 17, 2021, the young man was appointed to his position and has since served in the special forces unit "DOZOR." On February 24, 2022, Vladislav Vasko met with his comrades on a mission in the area of the Western Regional Department of the State Border Guard Service, where he participated in a special operation against organized crime at the border. The fighters received an order to urgently head to the capital, where they were to join a consolidated border detachment. Next were the battles for the city of Kyiv. At the end of April, after a successful counter-offensive operation in Kyiv and Chernihiv regions, the consolidated border detachment received new combat tasks and headed to Kharkiv region. There, Vladislav, as part of combat groups, participated in the liberation of several settlements such as Cherkaski Tyshky, Pytomnyk, Nova, and Dementiivka. The main task was to push the enemy as far away from the city of Kharkiv as possible, which the consolidated border detachment accomplished. Since September 2022, Vladislav, as part of the consolidated border detachment, performed special and combat tasks in Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions. On March 15, 2023, in order to prevent the advancement of enemy troops in the Zaporizhzhia direction, the consolidated border detachment was to storm the positions of the invaders. The combat group, in which Vladislav was, moved on the first armored personnel carrier, thus being the first to engage in fierce combat with the enemy. In addition to small arms fire, the enemy, risking losing positions, used a large number of anti-tank guided missiles. One of the enemy shells hit the armored personnel carrier in which Vladislav was. That day, the border guards completed their combat mission, but unfortunately, Sergeant Vladislav Vasko did not come out of this battle alive. The soldier sustained multiple injuries incompatible with life and died on the spot. For personal courage and selfless actions demonstrated in the defense of the state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and for loyalty to the military oath, Senior Soldier Vasko Vladislav Mykolaiovych was posthumously awarded the Order of "For Courage" of the III degree.