29 August 2025
Three years fallen: in memory of Sviatoslav Aleksapolsky, a native of Crimea
August 29, 2025 will be three years since the death of Sviatoslav Aleksapolsky, a junior lieutenant in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and Hero of Ukraine. He gave his life in battle saving his comrades and became a symbol of the courage and resilience of the Ukrainian people.
Sviatoslav Aleksapolsky was born on October 30, 1989, in the city of Saky in Crimea. He came from a family of Crimean Greeks on his father’s side and Ukrainians on his mother’s side. From childhood, he had diverse interests: he played chess, practiced martial arts, traveled, and was interested in history.
After graduation from the Crimean Boarding School for Gifted Children, in 2012 he earned a degree in tourism from the Kyiv National University of Culture and Arts. He held a seaman’s passport, worked and interned in Montana, USA, through the Work & Travel program, and later built a career in IT as a QA engineer.
Sviatoslav was an active participant in the Euromaidan protests in Crimea. After the Russian occupation of Crimea began, he left his home and joined the Azov Battalion. When the battalion was later withdrawn from combat zones to a permanent base, he actively engaged in animal welfare activities in Lviv, participating in raids against traveling circuses and zoos and rescuing animals even in combat zones in eastern and southern Ukraine. Sviatoslav was not only a soldier but also an athlete: he competed in Brazilian jiu-jitsu championships in Ukraine, winning medals, and dreamed of earning a black belt and teaching children in a liberated Ukraine.
In 2017, he signed a contract with the 25th Separate Airborne Brigade and later served in the 95th Separate Air Assault Brigade. In 2019, he completed a combat medic training course under the guidance of Canadian instructors. During his service in the airborne forces, he made about 15 parachute jumps. He was always learning, sharing knowledge with comrades, and warning friends about the coming war, urging them to acquire their own gear and be ready to defend the country.
From the first days of the Russian invasion, Sviatoslav once again joined Ukraine’s defenders. He took part in the liberation of Kyiv Oblast, trained volunteer units, and conducted combat training for recruits. After the battles in Kyiv Oblast, he and a group of Crimeans moved to Mykolaiv, where he joined the volunteer unit “Buzky Hard” and the reconnaissance platoon of the 220th Battalion of the 126th Territorial Defense Brigade.
His comrades remember him as a true leader who always remained humble and open, helping and supporting everyone. He organized reconnaissance operations in difficult areas of the front, provided medical assistance to the wounded, and repeatedly rescued his comrades during battles.
On August 29, 2022, during assault operations between the villages of Novohryhorivka and Liubomyrivka in Mykolaiv Oblast, Sviatoslav Aleksapolskyi took control of the situation, neutralized enemy infantry, and provided medical assistance, but a fragment from enemy artillery ended his earthly journey. His heroic actions saved the lives of other soldiers but cost him his own.
Today we honor the memory of Sviatoslav, a Crimean who became an example of love for his homeland. His story will forever remain part of Ukraine’s struggle for freedom.