In the Sokal region, the death has been confirmed of Ukraine’s defender Volodymyr Holubets from the village of Opilsko. After more than two years of waiting and searching, DNA analysis has established that the serviceman was killed while on a combat mission in Donetsk region.
Volodymyr Holubets was born on 28 July 1993 in Opilsko. He received his primary education at the local school and later studied at the Sokal Gymnasium named after Oleh Romaniv. He trained as a manual arc welder at the Lviv Vocational College of Transport and Construction. According to his relatives, he was responsible and calm, lost his father early and supported his mother and family.
In adult life, Volodymyr worked abroad and later at the state enterprise “Danish Textile”. He loved reading and worked on his personal development, but did not have time to start a family of his own.
On 15 March 2024, Volodymyr was mobilised into the Armed Forces of Ukraine and served in military unit A4007. After successfully completing training as an infantry sniper (marksman), he was appointed deputy commander of a combat vehicle and gunner-operator of a mechanised squad.
On 11 July 2024, the soldier went missing while carrying out a combat mission near the settlement of Arkhanhelske in the Pokrovsk district of Donetsk region. Contact with him was lost, and his family spent a long time searching for any information, hoping that he was alive or being held in captivity. A final answer was provided by DNA analysis, which confirmed his death.
The loss has been a heavy blow for his mother, stepfather, brother Oleh and his family, sister Mariika and her family, and his godson Matviichyk, whom Volodymyr loved dearly. Neighbours, fellow villagers, friends, work colleagues and comrades-in-arms also mourn him. Another young life has been cut short by the war, but in people’s memory he will remain as a man who gave himself for the sake of Ukraine’s future.
The community extends its sincere condolences to the family of the fallen defender and bows its head in grief and respect for his sacrifice.
The arrival of the body of Volodymyr Holubets is scheduled for Friday, 30 October, at 12:00 near the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. After this, the funeral cortege will proceed to the village of Opilsko, where the vigil and burial service will take place.
Eternal memory to Ukraine’s defender Volodymyr Holubets.