Ukrainian journalists who died defending Ukraine with weapons

With the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the ABO media development agency created the project "Memorial: Killed by Russia." The Memorial preserves the names of civilians and military personnel who died as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. "We created this memorial so that you can learn about everyone who was killed by the Russian army," the media say.

"Svidomi" in collaboration with "Memorial: Killed by Russia," tells about media workers who died in the war.

39-year-old TV cameraman and photographer Yurii Oliinyk died on March 23 during the fighting near Popasna. Oliinyk was a veteran of the Anti-terrorist Operation, he fought in the 24th Separate Mechanized Brigade named after King Daniel of Galicia. At that time, his unit also carried out combat tasks near Popasna.

The man himself is from Lviv. After returning to civilian life, he worked as a TV cameraman in the Lviv editorial office of Channel 24. He was fond of photography, mountaineering, mountain hiking, archeology, and history.

He went to war for the second time from the first days of the full-scale invasion of Russia and again found himself in the ranks of the 24th brigade. "As soon as the full-scale war of the Russian Federation against Ukraine began, Yurii immediately announced that he would go to the frontlines, and on the very first day he appeared at the military commissariat," Channel 24 reported.

"Yurii was an extremely good-natured and bright person. He knew how to support us in difficult moments, he loved life and our country. We all miss him very much," said colleague Andrii Drozda.

Mykola Rachok, a 27-year-old philologist and fighter of a motorized infantry brigade, died on July 21, 2022, in a battle with the PMC Wagner mercenaries in the Donetsk region.

Mykola Rachok is originally from the Vinnytsia region. He received his higher education at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, majoring in Philology, and worked in the media. His last job: an editor of the automotive portal "InfoCar".

From the first days of the full-scale invasion, Mykola Rachok joined the army — without combat experience, without a military specialty, he went to serve in the 58th Independent Motorized Infantry Brigade named after Hetman Vyhovsky. According to his brothers in arms, Rachok was a real warrior, he deliberately went into battle, and he returned to the frontlines after being offered to take a longer vacation after difficult weeks in the Luhansk region.

"From the first days of the full-scale war, Kolia went to defend the country. No one was surprised by this because they knew Kolia, they knew that he could not help but fight for Ukraine," wrote colleague Pavlo Kashchuk.

Oleksii Chubashev died on June 10, 2022, during the battles for Sievierodonetsk.

He was known as the author of the "Recruit UA" program, and the former head of "Army FM" and Military Television. Since 2015, he served in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Central Television and Radio Studio of the Ministry of Defense. In 2021, he retired from the service into the reserve and worked on his projects. However, after February 24, 2022, he returned.

"I'm often really ashamed of myself. Because objectively it was necessary to prepare for this better. But I admit, at some point, I relaxed. I started to live as if Russia were not around. But I am sure that the majority of Ukrainians will not allow it again. I want to believe that we will learn this year's history lesson, at the genetic level," Chubashev wrote shortly before his death.

The father saw his newborn son only once.

Journalist Oleksandr Savochenko died in July 2022 near Bakhmut.

Oleksandr Savochenko was born in the Chernihiv region. He graduated from the 9th grade of the school, and then from the Nizhyn Pedagogical Lyceum with honors. He received his higher education at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. During his studies, he did an internship at the STB TV channel. After that, he worked as a journalist at the AFP and Suspilne news agencies. Before the start of the full-scale war, he was an international editor at the "Kyiv" TV channel.

On February 25, Savochenko was mobilized to the 72nd Separate Mechanized Brigade named after the Black Zaporozhians. He told his relatives that he was doing editorial work.

Before the war, Savochenko had bought an apartment in Brovary, where he lived with his wife. They were planning to have children. The firstborn was to be a daughter, whom they wanted to call Yuliia. He is survived by his parents, an older brother, a grandmother, and a pregnant wife.

Oleksandr Makhov died on May 4, 2022, near Izyum in the Kharkiv region as a result of artillery fire. He was a military journalist, made reports for the TV channels "Ukraine", "Ukraine 24", and "Dom", and hosted the podcast "Voienkor". Oleksandr went to Antarctica on a business trip. He was the only journalist who was on board the plane that flew Ukrainians out of Wuhan.

Makhov himself is a Luhansk native. In 2015, he voluntarily mobilized and served as an anti-aircraft gunner and machine gunner in the 57th Separate Motorized Brigade. Then he lived in Kyiv, but the war never left him, so he was always engaged in military topics.

After the beginning of the full-scale invasion, he again changed the microphone to a machine gun — went to the 95th Air Assault Brigade.

While in the Kharkiv region, he proposed to his girlfriend in a video. She agreed, but the wedding never took place.

"Believe in the Armed Forces of Ukraine," are the last words on the page of journalist Oleksandr Makhov.