Yurii V. Popov (Dukh)

Military serviceman Yuriy Popov was killed on September 17, 2022, during the fighting for the Kharkiv region. The defender was 45 years old. Yuriy was born and lived in Lviv. He stu at secondary general education school No. 30. Later, he obtained vocational education and worked as a high-altitude loader. He was passionate about blacksmithing, airsoft, and mountain tourism. After the full-scale invasion, he initially joined the 103rd separate brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He then transferred to the 101st separate brigade of the Territorial Defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. As part of this unit, he went on combat missions to the Kharkiv region, where he fought his last battle. Yuriy was killed alongside his best friend, godfather, and comrade Artem Tolochko. "I do not remember Artem without Dukh, Dukh without Artem. Together they baptized children, worked together, cooked the best bograch in the world together, and together they went to war when their country needed them. We should bury them shoulder to shoulder at Marsovo, but for some reason, I really want to remember them just like this – young, free, and determined, like this together. Because that's how they were until the end, even after so many years," wrote Olena Tolochko, Yuriy's comrade's sister. The defender was buried at Lychakiv Cemetery in Lviv.