29 August 2026
Four Years Since the Death of Sviatoslav Aleksapolskyi — Hero of Ukraine
On August 29, four years will have passed since Sviatoslav Aleksapolskyi — a serviceman and Hero of Ukraine — was killed in the Mykolaiv region. Until his final moments, he remained where his fellow soldiers needed him most.
Sviatoslav was born in Saky. His mother was Ukrainian, and his father was half Ukrainian and half Greek. Sviatoslav grew up as someone who could never be confined to just one passion or one path. He was active and curious: he played chess, practised martial arts, travelled, studied history, studied tourism, and later became a QA engineer.
He was constantly learning and teaching others. He trained as a combat medic, completed around 15 parachute jumps, practised Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and won medals at Ukrainian championships. His dream was to earn a black belt and train children in a free Ukrainian Crimea.
While still in Crimea, Sviatoslav resisted the Russian occupation and was one of the leaders of the Tavriya ultras movement. In 2014, Sviatoslav joined Azov. He spent almost five years fighting in eastern Ukraine. He also served as a paratrooper in the 25th and 95th Brigades, and during this period he became known by the call sign Sviat. He later demobilised to return to civilian life. He worked at a forge in Lviv and later in IT. But after February 24, 2022, Sviatoslav could not stand aside.
Sviatoslav took part in the fighting in the Kyiv region, trained volunteers, and later was deployed to the Mykolaiv region. There, together with others from Crimea, he joined the Buzkyi Guard unit and the reconnaissance platoon of the 220th Battalion of the 126th Territorial Defence Brigade.
To his fellow soldiers, he was someone they could always rely on. Sviatoslav knew how to lead, while remaining humble and attentive to others. During combat operations, he repeatedly returned for wounded soldiers, provided them with assistance, and organised complex reconnaissance missions.
On August 29, 2022, during an assault between the villages of Novohryhorivka and Liubomyrivka in the Mykolaiv region, Sviatoslav was carrying out a combat mission and assisting the wounded. He was killed while saving others.
For his courage and sacrifice, Sviatoslav Aleksapolskyi was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine.
Four years later, his name stands among those whose sacrifice enables Ukraine to continue its struggle.
We remember the Defender. We remember the Hero.