One of the founders of UNA-UNSO Mykola Karpyuk killed at the front

During a combat mission at the front, former Kremlin political prisoner and one of the founders of the civic-political movement UNA-UNSO, Mykola Karpyuk, was killed. This is stated in posts by former MP Boryslav Bereza, political figure Artur Palatnyi, and former SBU deputy head Viktor Yahun on Facebook.

According to civic activists, Mykola Karpyuk fell 19 September on the Zaporizhzhia front. The serviceman went to defend the country with a weapon in his hands after already reaching 60 years of age, when mobilization is carried out only on a voluntary basis. “At the front, on the Zaporizhzhia direction, Mykola Karpyuk was killed. The man whom Russia held in its prisons and whom they managed to return to Ukraine. He was a strong figure. He knew how to both persuade and act,” wrote Boryslav Bereza. In turn, politician Artur Palatnyi emphasized the invincibility of the warrior who devoted his life to the struggle for the country’s independence. “Mykola Andronovych devoted his life to the struggle for Ukraine. He went through revolutions, years of Russian captivity and severe trials, but remained unbreakable. Even after 60 years he went to fight, to defend his native land,” Palatnyi noted.

Former SBU deputy head Viktor Yahun also stressed the principled character of the fallen defender. “He made his choice long ago and remained faithful to it under any circumstances. Much hardship befell him. What could have broken another did not break him... And even when he had every right to say, ‘I have already done enough,’ he was again where he believed he needed to be. At the front,” Yahun wrote. Mykola Karpyuk was a Ukrainian civic and political figure, one of the founders of the organization UNA-UNSO. In March 2014 he was detained by Russian special services on a fabricated pretext while entering the Russian Federation. In May 2016 a Russian court sentenced him to 22,5 years in prison on a fabricated charge of participating in the Chechen war. In September 2019 he returned to Ukraine as part of a major prisoner exchange between Ukraine and the Russian Federation. After the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, he joined the ranks of the Defense Forces of Ukraine. Remember, the Ukrainian sports community and cultural sphere continue to suffer irreparable losses in the war against Russian occupiers. Remember, well-known Ukrainian host Maksym Nelipa was killed at the front.