On 5 January 2026, on the Zaporizhzhia front, the war claimed the life of Volodymyr Vasylyshyn — a Ukrainian warrior, paramedic, mountaineer, rescuer, and athlete. He was only 33.
Volodymyr was born on 8 December 1992 in Yaremche — a place where mountains are not merely a landscape, but a way of thinking. Perhaps that is why his life’s path always led upward — steep, demanding, yet honest. He was a Candidate for Master of Sport in sports tourism, a national champion of Ukraine in this discipline, a guide, and a skyrunner. His mountaineering achievements included ascents of Kazbek, Mont Blanc, and the Matterhorn, and his dream was to conquer an eight-thousander — Mount Manaslu in the Himalayas.
Until his final days, Volodymyr continued to combine sport with service in the Defense Forces of Ukraine. On the morning of 5 January 2026, he registered to take part in the Ukrainian Championship in ski mountaineering. It was to be his first competition in this discipline. By evening, however, news of his death had arrived.
From the very beginning of the full-scale invasion, Volodymyr defended Ukraine as part of the 241st Separate Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He served as a paramedic and held the rank of sergeant. He went into battle with a medic’s backpack — toward the wounded, under shelling, to places where every second determines whether a heart will keep beating.
He described his decision to go to war simply and honestly: “Perhaps it is utterly unwise or even insane to want to go to war… But what can you do if your entire future depends on it?” Volodymyr was constantly learning, improving his skills, seeking ways to be useful closer to the front. Even during the withdrawal of his unit, he strove to act, to save lives, never to stop. Together with his brothers-in-arms, he evacuated and saved dozens of soldiers.
His call sign was Veselyi — “Cheerful.” And this was no coincidence. Volodymyr’s friends remember him as a man of action — always with a smile, with warm, life-giving energy, with the ability to support others even when it was hard for him himself. When he led groups in the mountains, one could be certain: everything would be under control, everyone would make it, everyone would return.
Volodymyr Vasylyshyn knew what height, risk, and trust truly meant. And he left behind an example — of how to be a strong athlete, a brave warrior, and a genuine human being.
Eternal memory to the Hero.