Yevhen V. Arefiev

He was born in Kazakhstan, in the city of Krasnoarmiysk, Kokchetav Oblast, into a family of civil servants. Later, the family moved to Russia, and in 1983 - to Ukraine, to the city of Pripyat, Kyiv Oblast, where Yevhen graduated from school No. 1 in Slavutych. In 1989, he entered the Ryazan Higher Airborne Command School, which he graduated in 1993 and received the rank of lieutenant. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he was removed from the lists of the Russian Federation and assigned to the disposal of the Minister of Defense of Ukraine. He then served in the Khiriv Airborne Brigade in Lviv Oblast (Khiriv) and was discharged from service after some time. In 1997, he started his own business - manufacturing polystyrene for construction work. In 2002, he graduated from the Chernihiv State Institute of Economics and Management. With the beginning of the war in eastern Ukraine, he volunteered for the Slavutych City Military Commissariat. Commander of the reconnaissance platoon of the 1st Airborne Battalion of the 79th Separate Airborne Brigade. He had the call sign "Spartacus." From August 2014, he was a senior at the position in the new terminal of Donetsk Airport - the people called them "cyborgs" for their courage and resilience. Later he became deputy commander of the battalion for reconnaissance. In 2016-2017, he was the head of reconnaissance - assistant chief of staff of the battalion of the 79th brigade. On July 26, 2017, after the end of his contract, he was discharged from service. He continued to work in business. In 2019, he returned to military service - he took the position of assistant chief of reconnaissance of the reconnaissance department of the staff of the 1st Separate Tank Brigade. From August 2019, he served in the military intelligence department of the intelligence directorate of the staff of the Operational Command "North." On February 17, 2020, Major Yevhen Arefiev suddenly died from a stroke that occurred in late January while performing tasks in the JFO zone. He is buried in the military burial sector of the Chernihiv cemetery "Yatsevo."