Volodymyr M. Skliar

Military pilot Volodymyr Sklyar was killed on March 8, 2022, while carrying out a combat mission in the area of the village of Nova Basan in the Chernihiv region. His helicopter was shot down by Russian occupiers. Captain Sklyar , and the crew was taken captive. The officer was about to turn 30 in March. Volodymyr was born in the settlement of Markivka in the Luhansk region. He dreamed of being a pilot since childhood. After finishing 9th grade, he went to study at the Luhansk Regional Lyceum with enhanced military-physical training "Cadet Corps named after the heroes of the Young Guard." He then enrolled in the Ivan Kozhedub Air Force University in Kharkiv. He graduated from the engineering and aviation faculty and became an officer. He loved sports very much and participated in running competitions in Ukraine multiple times. He dreamed of participating in the Ironman World Championship, and after completing the distance, he wanted to get a tattoo. He was learning English. He was interested in history and loved going treasure hunting with a metal detector. After graduation in 2014, he joined the 11th separate army aviation brigade, taking the position of in-flight aviation technician. He participated in the Anti-Terrorist Operation in Donbas. As part of the Mi-8MT helicopter crew, he evacuated wounded soldiers and delivered humanitarian aid. He later participated in peacekeeping missions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Liberia. During his service, he was awarded multiple times, including badges "Peacekeeper," "For Service and Valor" of the III degree. He had a certificate for over 1000 hours of flight time on the Mi-8 helicopter. From the first days of the full-scale war, Volodymyr, along with his comrades, defended the sky over Kyiv and Chernihiv regions from the occupiers. "He was brave, strong—he defended our country without fear. The best dad and husband. He was, is, and will remain our hero. We miss him endlessly. Almost a year has passed, and we still cannot believe it. He wrote to a friend: '...for Ukraine, I am ready to give my life...'. Unfortunately, it happened," said the officer's wife, Kateryna. The officer was buried at the military cemetery in the city of Vasylkiv, Kyiv region. Volodymyr is survived by his wife and a daughter who was 5 years old at the time of her father's death. Posthumously, Volodymyr Sklyar was awarded the rank of major and the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky III degree.