The sad news was reported by the Sokal City Council. Back in March 2022, in a battle near the town of Rubizhne, Hero Yuriy Kapleta from Sokal went missing. Until recently, everyone hoped that he had been captured, and after every prisoner exchange, they searched for his name.
However, the news came that Yuriy Kapleta’s body had been identified among the bodies of the dead by DNA examination.
Yuriy Kapleta was a defender, public figure, volunteer and patriot of Ukraine. He was born on 3 December 1986 in the city of Sokal. He studied at Sokal secondary school No. 5. From the first days of the Revolution of Dignity, he fought for the European future on the Independence Square in Kyiv. He participated in the creation of the 10th Hundred of the Maidan Self-Defence. He held the position of a tensman and was responsible for the protection of the 1st and 2nd floors of the Trade Union Building. He took an active part in the events that took place on the Maidan.
On 18 February 2014, he was wounded by Berkut officers on Instytutska Street in Kyiv. Then, for a long time, Yuriy Kapleta was treated in the Sokal Central District Hospital and in Rzeszów in Poland. Upon completion of treatment, he returned to Sokal.
Since the beginning of the ATO in eastern Ukraine, he has been an active volunteer, collecting food and clothes, weaving camouflage nets for soldiers on the central square of the city, and delivering aid to the war zone with his comrades. Later, he began military service and volunteered to defend Ukraine as part of the 24th Separate Mechanised Brigade.
According to the Decree of the President of Ukraine of 28 March 2022, Yuriy Kapleta was awarded the Order “For Courage”, III class, for personal courage and selfless actions in defence of state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, loyalty to the military oath.
Cheerful, smiling, cheerful, a patriot – this is how Yuriy will be remembered by the people of Sokal. There is probably no one in the city who does not know Yuriy Kapleta. He went through the hell of the Maidan, survived a serious injury, and the cruel hand of the occupier ended his young life.
Yuriy Kapleta’s mother Iryna, brother Yaroslav and his family are in deep sorrow. It is impossible to find words to comfort a mother’s heart. For two years, his mother waited for news from her son, hoping that he was alive. Yuriy left this world as a hero on the battlefield, and now he is among the angels.
May he rest in peace!
The time of the meeting of the Hero’s body and the rite of burial will be announced later.