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Automatically translated version. May contain inaccuracies compared to the original.
In Zlatopil, Kharkiv region, they said goodbye forever to 57-year-old pediatrician Igor Revela. Officially a soldier, rifleman-assistant grenade launcher of the 1-th infantry company of the 3-th infantry platoon of the 2-th infantry company of the A4848 military unit, better known as the Wolves of Vinci. But Igor Reveka did not spend a single day in the big war – he died in a training camp from a disease that made mobilization impossible. In this hard story, which gained wide publicity, there are many “white spots.” Journalist Korotko tried to sort out what is known.
A reserve lieutenant, also a soldier.
Igor Reveka’s death was first reported by his stepdaughter on Threads: "Today I learned that my stepfather died. He was one of the best pediatricians in Kharkiv. He saved many people during COVID-19. Two weeks after he was taken into the territorial recruitment and social support center (TSC), we were informed of his death." Below is the official statement.
The post sparked an emotional wave both over the premature death of a talented physician and over the mismatch between the profession he devoted his life to and a military position. Some even "exposed the fake" after recognizing in the photo the French actor Arthur Mazet, but this version was quickly vehemently denied. Many people remembered Igor by name and face because they were very grateful to him.
"My sincere condolences! In the summer 20-year I came to visit my grandmothers with a daughter on vacation in Kharkiv (Kharkiv. - Editor’s note), she became ill very early on. He was the only conscientious doctor we met during several days of wandering through clinics for substantial money… And he just came to our home, said that everything with the child is okay, even calmed me as an anxious mother. I saw the photo and remembered him right away. It hurts that such people are leaving…" — wrote one of the mothers.
Commentators were unsettled by two points: why a doctor who should have been exempted from service ended up in a military unit and why, as a graduate of a military department with the rank of reserve lieutenant, he was listed as a soldier and attached to a grenade launcher.
It is unknown what happened with the exemption.
22 October, the death of Igor Reveka was officially confirmed by Zlatopil City Council. This town, which before the renaming was called Pavlo-Maysky, was the small homeland of the future physician. From here he left to continue his studies at the Krasnohrad Medical Vocational School and Kharkiv Medical University. Then, in the position of medic on surface ships, he served his conscription service in the Navy.
The last place where Igor Reveka worked is not disclosed. It is known that in civilian life he worked as an ambulance doctor and as a pediatrician in Kharkiv. According to a government resolution from 14 January 2025 year, all medical workers of conscription age employed in state and municipal health facilities are subject to 100-percent exemption from mobilization. The only exception is targeted demobilization—upon a request from the Ministry of Defense for a specific specialty. There is no mention that a pediatrician from Kharkiv fell under such a request.
In the official report of the 1-th Separate Assault Battalion, nicknamed "Wolves of Vinci" in honor of the unit founder Dmytro Kotsiubailo, it states that "Igor Yevheniyovych was mobilized 25.09.2026. From 27.09.2026 to 02.10.2026 he was at the unit’s permanent deployment location. 03.10.2026 The serviceman was sent to a training ground to undergo Basic General Military Training (BGMT)."
It also explains that during BGMT personnel are recorded as riflemen, grenade launchers, and assistant grenade launchers. After training, the distribution of service members is according to their skills and civilian profession. Reveka was preliminarily assigned to the regiment’s medical company.
- Do not confuse rank with military position. Recruits who completed a military department long ago can be recorded as riflemen because they must relearn to shoot and master other military skills, says lawyer Darya Tarasenko. - After BGMT they go on to officer positions according to their military-legal documents.
Commander of the 108-th Separate Assault Battalion "Wolves Yes Vinci" Serhiy Filipinov commented on Igor Reveka’s mobilization.
"I have a completely logical question: what is the state of the medical service of this battalion if a qualified doctor is drawn into assault actions? Is the medical support there so good that they can afford to lose such specialists?"
"I would very much like the higher command to pay attention to such cases and give them due assessment," his post reads.
What could be the reason
At the military training ground, again according to official sources, the pediatrician was there for two days. 5 October he was hospitalized at the 4-th city hospital in Dnipro, 16 October the doctor died. The cause of death is named as a malignant tumor of the sigmoid colon. The public naturally asks: how could a person with end-stage cancer pass the conscription medical exam and be deemed fit for service in assault troops?! Even if the disease progressed with subtle symptoms, its signs should have been detected during the examination. A simple blood test shows deviations.
"To die from a colon tumor, there must have been an acute intestinal obstruction, for which timely medical help was not provided; timely operated obstruction is not a cause of death! Unless he was kept alive until diffuse fecal peritonitis developed, who are you telling this that the tumor was the cause of death??? The cause of death is failure to provide medical assistance!" wrote Facebook user Lavrika Chelter, who works in health care.
The Ground Forces stated that an investigation into all circumstances of mobilization, medical board passage, training, and Igor Reveka’s death is being initiated. Media and the public ask not to draw premature conclusions until all circumstances are clarified. However, what is troubling is that the unit has already stated that the doctor "died of a disease not related to military service." Although human rights defenders call this interpretation doubtful.
- If a person was deemed healthy at the BGMT, it means they did not have a disease before mobilization. Therefore, the disease arose and progressed during service with the Armed Forces and due to service. As absurd as it sounds, legally everything looks like that, says lawyer Viktor Naumchuk. - All responsibility lies with the doctors at the BGMT and those who allow a formal commission.
In brief
"Technical pause" proved fatal for an anesthesiologist
This story echoes another tragedy that happened this year. 5 August in the Military Medical Clinical Center of the Central Region died 43-year-old pediatric anesthesiologist from Rivne region, Dmitro Sysonyuk. He underwent basic military training at the Training Center of the Ukrainian Military Medical Academy. 1 August, under unclear circumstances, he fell from a fifth-floor bathroom window. A criminal case for intentional murder has been opened, with a note of “accident.”
Dmitro Sysonyuk is known to have graduated from Bukovinian State Medical University, worked for almost 20 years in the neonatal intensive care unit of Rivne Regional Children's Hospital and at the city maternity hospital. The doctor was mobilized 27 July. The car he was driving back to Rivne with his wife was stopped at a temporary checkpoint. Upon checking documents, as local TSC says, "Obereg" showed that the person was wanted.
After the doctor’s death, it turned out that he fell into a "technical pause"—due to a change in the rules for regional exemptions, the regional hospital had to confirm its status as a critically important enterprise. 24 July exemptions were canceled, but the same day they were re-established at the regional level. 27 July the Ministry of Digital Transformation restored the exemption via Diia. Among hospital staff, this exemption did not apply to Dmitro Sysonyuk, because by that moment he was already listed as a person liable for military service.
The death of the anesthesiologist, who held the rank of junior lieutenant reserve, is under the oversight of the Ombudsman for Human Rights. But the legal conclusion in this tragedy has not yet been drawn.
The doctor was buried in the city where he was born.
Document: PDF proof of the original version of the news item ""Смертельно придатний": педіатр, мобілізований в "штурмовики", помер на останній стадії онко". It records the publication content at the moment of the first scan, the preservation date and the source: KP.UA.
