Fallen defender from Drohobych Ihor Petesh has been posthumously awarded a state decoration – the medal “For Military Service to Ukraine”. The distinction was presented to his daughter, Khrystyna Urbanovych.
To present the award in Drohobych, the head of the social support department of the 7th Carpathian Border Detachment, Lieutenant Colonel Serhii Volskyi, and the assistant to the chief for veterans’ policy, Lieutenant Colonel Valentyn Radyk, arrived in the city. Together with First Deputy Mayor Roman Beizyk and the head of the department for social and psychological and legal support and interaction with male and female defenders and their family members, Maryana Bechkalo, they presented the award to the daughter of the fallen warrior and thanked the family for Ihor Petesh’s courage and self-sacrifice.
Ihor Petesh served as an inspector of the border service, 3rd category – assistant grenadier of the 1st unit of border service inspectors of the 1st border outpost of the second border service department of the 2nd rapid response border commandant’s office, as part of the 3rd Border Detachment named after Hero of Ukraine Colonel Yevhenii Pikus.
With the start of the full-scale war, Ihor expressed his desire to stand in defence of Ukraine. During the farewell to another young fallen warrior, he stressed that it was unacceptable for such young lads to be dying in the war, and decided to join the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Despite several refusals at the military enlistment office, from April 2022 he began service in a border detachment and was constantly at the forward positions of the front. The fighter was wounded twice and suffered many shrapnel injuries, yet each time he returned to battle.
Ihor Petesh was killed on 20 March 2024 during an artillery strike near Kostiantynivka. He is survived by his wife, daughter and brother. Due to fierce fighting in this sector of the front, for several months it was impossible to recover the defender’s body from the ground. Only after DNA tests were carried out was he able to be brought back to his native Drohobych for burial.
The farewell to Ihor Petesh took place on 27 September 2024. The fallen warrior found eternal rest on the Alley of Glory in Drohobych.