A native of Kalush in the Ivano-Frankivsk region and a rifleman of the 3rd Rifle Company of the 79th Battalion of the 102nd Separate Territorial Defense Brigade named after Colonel Dmytro Vitovskyi, Vasyl Mykytsei was a man for whom service to Ukraine was not a duty but an inner calling.
Vasyl was born on December 10, 1972. From childhood, he stood out for his sincerity and open character. He studied at Kalush School No. 7, where he was remembered as a reliable friend. From an early age, he was deeply involved in sports: he trained in freestyle wrestling at the “Budivelnyk” sports complex, earned the rank of Candidate for Master of Sports, and repeatedly became a prize-winner at regional and national championships.
His coach, Mykola Pukish, recalls Vasyl as an exceptionally disciplined and hardworking athlete who never avoided difficulties, always achieved his goals, and constantly strove for more.
After completing his military service, Vasyl entered the Ternopil Institute of National Economy in 1993, specializing in Accounting and Auditing. He worked at the Kalush City Council and later at the Main Department of the State Service on Food Safety and Consumer Protection in the Ivano-Frankivsk region. In 2011, he earned a master’s degree in Public Administration from the Ivano-Frankivsk National Technical University of Oil and Gas.
In 1996, Vasyl married. Together with his wife, Bohdana, he raised three sons—Yaroslav, Maksym, and Stepan. He was an attentive and caring father who loved to travel and passed on to his children his love for the mountains and nature. With each of his sons, when they were only five or six years old, he climbed Hoverla.
Vasyl was always an active citizen: he took part in the Orange Revolution and the Revolution of Dignity, and was a member of the Kalush branch of the Ukrainian Youth Association.
From the first days of the full-scale invasion—already on 25 February 2022—he joined the Kalush Territorial Defense. Before deployment to the front, he suffered a severe Achilles tendon injury, yet after recovery he returned to his unit, even with the wound not fully healed. He first helped in the kitchen and later took on combat missions. Always smiling, bright, and confident, he told his comrades he would stay by their side “until the very end, until victory.”
On 5 December 2023, during fighting near Huliaipole in the Zaporizhzhia region, Vasyl sustained severe injuries. He was taken to the hospital in critical condition, but his life could not be saved. He passed away on his birthday—December 10—on the day he was to turn 51.
On December 16, Kalush bid farewell to Vasyl Mykytsei. The Hero was laid to rest at the Alley of Glory in the city cemetery.
Eternal memory and honor to the Defender of Ukraine.