He was killed in the first months of the full-scale Russian invasion, but was considered missing and a prisoner of war for more than a year. Friends and family bid farewell to Ukrainian defender and boxer Artem Khan in Mykolaiv region.
He was born on April 6, 2001. As a child, he became interested in martial arts. He started boxing and mixed martial arts in Mykolaiv Sports School №6. His coaches recall that Artem outperformed his peers in sports in a few years of training. He became the Ukrainian junior boxing champion and received the title of candidate for master of sports. He graduated from Mykolaiv National University of Shipbuilding.
Artem joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the age of 19, signing a contract. He served in the 79th Air Assault Brigade. When the full-scale Russian invasion began, he had been in the war zone for a year, but he never told his parents that he was directly involved in the fighting. At the end of February 2022, he was waiting for his rotation, was supposed to return home, and had even packed his bags, but a full-scale war broke all plans… The last time Artem contacted his father was on April 29, 2022, and on April 30, he did not return to Ukrainian positions from the fighting. Since then, he was considered missing. But in December of the same year, Artem’s mother finded out that her son was in captivity. His name was found on the enemy’s lists. This news gave the family great hope that he was alive, but unfortunately, in January 2024, all hopes were dashed. DNA testing revealed that Artem died on the day he did not return – on April 30, 2022, near the village of Dibrova in Donetsk region. The Hero was only 21 years old…