Yevhenii O. Loskot (Baha, Lokot, Damba-22)

Born on June 22, 1983, in the city of Chernihiv. Lived in the urban-type settlement of Desna in the Kozelets district of Chernihiv region. In 2000, he graduated from the general education school of the urban-type settlement of Desna. Since the early 2000s, he served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He completed his mandatory military service in the 101st Separate Brigade of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (military unit A0139, Kyiv). In 2006, he graduated from the Odessa Institute of Ground Forces (now the Military Academy, Odessa). He served in command positions, including as the commander of a platoon in the 354th Training Mechanized Regiment of the 169th Training Center of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (military unit A1048, urban-type settlement of Desna, Kozelets district, Chernihiv region). In 2011, Captain Y.O. Loskot was discharged from the Armed Forces of Ukraine to the reserve. He actively participated in public and political life. Since 2010, he was a member of the Kozelets district organization of the All-Ukrainian Union "Svoboda." In the winter of 2013-2014, he was at Maidan Nezalezhnosti in Kyiv, where he was an active participant in the Revolution of Dignity. He was part of the AutoMaidan. On January 20, 2014, he was injured in the face by a rubber bullet during a clash with the special police unit "Berkut" on Hrushevskoho Street. From February 18 to 20, 2014, he participated in the defense of Maidan, during the fiercest battles between protesters and law enforcement in the center of Kyiv. On March 21, 2014, he was mobilized as a volunteer into the Armed Forces of Ukraine by the Kozelets District Military Commissariat of Chernihiv region. He served as the deputy commander of the weapons platoon of the reconnaissance company of the 1st Separate Guards Tank Brigade of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (military unit A1815, urban-type settlement of Honcharivske, Chernihiv district, Chernihiv region). From spring to summer 2014, he participated in the anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine. Call signs "Baha," "Lokot," "Damba-22." He participated in battles near the villages of Zhovte, Raivka, and Sabivka in the Slovianoserbsk district, the city of Lutuhyne in Luhansk region, for strategic checkpoints, and the defense of Luhansk International Airport. In September 2014, he remained near the city of Luhansk to cover the withdrawal of the main tactical group. He joined the fighters of the 22nd Territorial Defense Battalion "Kharkiv." The guys were left without officers, so Captain Yevhen Loskot decided to lead the decapitated unit, which he reported to his command. On September 7, 2014, Captain Yevhen Loskot, with two soldiers in an infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), set out to assist the territorial defense fighters. They stopped in the middle of a sunflower field to scout the situation in more detail. About two hundred meters away, at the boundary of agricultural land and the nearest spoil heap, the crew discovered half a dozen units of military equipment, a tank, and a large cluster of SUVs. Captain Yevhen Loskot decided to attack the enemy's field command post, using the element of surprise. The jammed turret of the combat vehicle made cannon fire impossible, so the guys used a machine gun and rifles, crushing and ramming "Lexus" and "BMW" vehicles. When the Russian militants came to their senses, the old BMP was already leaving the area. However, at the last moment, the combat vehicle was hit by an enemy tank. The crew split up - one soldier managed to return to his own, while the other was captured. Captain Yevhen Loskot managed to withdraw from the battlefield, contact the "Aidar" fighters, and arrange for assistance in crossing to the other side of the Siverskyi Donets. The volunteers asked to adjust the artillery fire, to which the officer agreed. The artillery covered the enemy group with dense fire. However, Captain Yevhen Loskot could not reach his own; he was betrayed by local residents. The wounded officer was surrounded and fought his last battle at an abandoned farm near the village of Vesela Hora in the Slovianoserbsk district of Luhansk region. When he ran out of ammunition, not wanting to surrender, he blew himself up with a grenade, uttering a phrase strange to the terrorists: "Russians do not surrender! Glory to Ukraine!" After that, the Russian militants finished off the Ukrainian officer with a shot to the head. Thanks to the heroic, decisive, and brave actions of Captain Yevhen Loskot, the Russian-terrorist formations were delayed for a day in their advance deeper into Ukrainian territory towards the city of Shchastia in the Zhovtnevyi district of Luhansk (now the Novoaidar district of Luhansk region). During this time, about fifty Ukrainian soldiers managed to break out of encirclement, reached the city of Shchastia, and the volunteers from the 24th Territorial Defense Battalion "Aidar" and fighters from the 92nd Separate Mechanized Brigade consolidated their positions. Since then, Yevhen Loskot was considered missing in action. Only on June 22, 2015, the remains of the Hero were discovered by the searchers of the "Evacuation-200" Mission ("Black Tulip") at the site of his death. On September 2, 2015, he was identified through DNA testing. On September 9, 2015, he was buried in the cemetery of the urban-type settlement of Desna in the Kozelets district of Chernihiv region. By the decree of the President of Ukraine No. 235/2017 dated August 23, 2017, for exceptional courage, heroism, and self-sacrifice displayed in the defense of the state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and loyalty to the military oath, Captain Loskot Yevhen Oleksandrovych was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine with the Order of the Golden Star.