Yan I. Vilkhovetskyi (Sokil)

Serviceman Yan Vilkhovetskyi was killed on September 15, 2022, during the counteroffensive of the Ukrainian forces in the area of the village of Berestove in the Donetsk region. The fighter was killed during a mortar attack. He was 31 years old. Yan was born and lived in Chernivtsi. After school, he graduated from a local vocational school. He worked at the Chernivtsi First Bread bakery. He was passionate about military affairs, so after completing his military service, he joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine on a contract basis in 2016. For 6 years, he carried out combat missions in the ATO/JFO area. In 2011, Yan met his future wife Maria. The relationship developed rapidly, and soon the couple got married. The couple raised two children. The man was in constant contact with his beloved, even at the front. Two weeks before the start of the full-scale war, his unit was sent to the border with Belarus. From the first days of the invasion, Yan, as part of the 8th separate mountain assault battalion of the 10th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade, took part in the battles for Irpin, Hostomel, and Bucha in the Kyiv region, then in the battles for the Chernihiv, Kharkiv, and Sievierodonetsk regions in the Luhansk region. And in the fall, he went to the Donetsk region to defend the Bakhmut direction. "He was a stubborn person, always stood his ground. He certainly made certain concessions to those he loved. My husband was always positive, no matter what happened, he always found something good in everything. Despite being at war, he always said: 'Everything is fine, everything is okay!'" said the warrior's wife Maria. The hero was buried in the Alley of Glory in his hometown. The defender left behind a mother, wife, son, and daughter. Yan Vilkhovetskyi was posthumously awarded the medal "For the Glory of Chernivtsi".