Yaroslav O. Koliesnik

Fighter Yaroslav Kolesnik was killed on September 22, 2022, in battles for Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi and Kivsharivka in the Kharkiv region. The defender was 48 years old. Yaroslav was originally from the Kharkiv region. He was always a person with an active civic position. He participated in the Revolution of Dignity. From the first days of the Russo-Ukrainian war, he took up arms and stood to defend Ukraine. He fought in the ranks of the 92nd Separate Mechanized Brigade named after the Cossack Ataman Ivan Sirko. He went through the battles for Ilovaisk. Later, he was demobilized, returned to his native Kharkiv region, lived in the village of Khorosheve, and worked in construction. In his free time, he loved to read and fish. From the first day of the full-scale war, February 24, 2022, Yaroslav returned to the ranks of his native brigade and stood to defend the Kharkiv region and Kharkiv. In March, he participated in battles for Mala Rohan and Vilkhivka. In September, he took part in the Kharkiv counteroffensive, advancing in the first echelon. The company he was in was the first to enter the Ukrainian Kupiansk. “Yarik called me his little son because he taught me how to fight. We started this damned war together on February 24, 2022, early in the morning, and then we participated together in the battles for Kharkiv. Thanks to Yaroslav and what he taught me, I am still alive,” said the fallen soldier's comrade Dmytro. “This is my dear brother. I do not ask for condolences, only ask to remember the Hero. Those like him are one in a million. And I am proud that I had and still have such a great person in my memory. Yaroslav, my dear, I miss you immensely, I can't stop crying, I talk to your photo every day. My soul and heart are torn apart, I am still waiting for a call from you or just a “+” as a sign that you are okay. My pain will never go away. You are still alive for me because Heroes do not die. And you are my hero, strong, brave, true,” wrote the defender's sister Svitlana. The soldier was buried in the village of Khorosheve in the Kharkiv region. Yaroslav is survived by his mother, sister, and daughter.