On 10 April, memorial plaques were unveiled on the facade of Tudorkovychi Primary School to two graduates of the school – Bohdan Shelemey and Roman Orestovych Shavliuk.
Both men died heroically defending the independence and territorial integrity of Ukraine. The event was reported by Vasyl Sorochuk, editor-in-chief of the Voice from Across the Bug.
The ceremony was attended by village residents, students, teachers, relatives of the fallen soldiers and representatives of local authorities: Sokal Mayor Serhiy Kasyan, his first deputy Mykola Pasko, Deputy Mayor Volodymyr Ohinsky, and City Council member Oleh Slavych.
Opening the event, school principal Halyna Shepelyuk expressed her sincere condolences to the families of the Heroes and stressed that the memory of their feat would serve as an example of courage, dignity and devotion for students. Preserving memory is the main task of today.
Teachers Viktoriia Zaiets and Svitlana Khoma spoke about the lives and paths of the fallen defenders:
Bohdan Shelemey:
- Born on 2 June 1988 in the village of Tudorkovychi.
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He studied at a local school and then at the Novovolynsk vocational school, where he majored in locksmithing.
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He worked in the furniture industry and at a meat processing plant in Sokal.
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He took part in the ATO (2015-2017), from 27 February 2022 – on the front line.
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He was a junior sergeant of the 103rd Brigade of the Chervonohrad TRO, commander of the rifle division, had the call sign “Khmelnytskyi”.
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He died on 9 August, 2024 during an enemy bombing near Kiyanytsia, Sumy region.
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The son Andrii, the parents Halyna and Yaroslav, the sister Mariia are survived.
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He was buried in his native village.
Roman Shavliuk:
- Vasyl was born on 31 January 1997 in Tudorkovychi.
- After school, he studied at the Chervonohrad Vocational and Mining Construction Lyceum and received a degree in welding.
- Since 2020, he has been working in Poland.
- At the beginning of the full-scale war, he returned to Ukraine, voluntarily joined the TRO, and later the National Guard.
- He was trained in Ternopil and Vinnytsia, from where he was sent to Donetsk region.
- Call sign “Korrespondent”, he also unofficially performed the duties of a medic.
- He was promoted to the rank of junior sergeant and commanded a unit.
- He died on 19 August, 2023 near the village of Robotyne, Zaporizhzhia direction, as a result of mortar attack.
- He was buried in his native village. He is survived by his mother Larysa, sister Ruslana and brother Oleksandr.
The plaques were unveiled by the Heroes’ relatives and blessed by Father Stepan Dilai, rector of the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In their speeches, he and Serhiy Kasyan emphasised that Bohdan and Roman had fallen for the sake of the country’s future.
The event ended with patriotic songs and poems performed by schoolchildren. The participants paid tribute to the Heroes with a minute of silence, lit candles and laid flowers. The bright memory will forever remain in the hearts of the villagers.