Vitalii Sapylo

Vitalii Romanovych Sapylo (Ukrainian: Сапило Віталій Романович; 3 September 2000 – 25 February 2022) was a lieutenant and the commander of a tank platoon in the 14th Separate Mechanized Brigade. He was a participant in the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Biography
Sapylo was a graduate of the FC Karpaty Lviv. He was invited to join FC Shakhtar Donetsk, but he chose the profession of defending his country and entered the Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi National Ground Forces Academy in Lviv in 2017, where he studied at the Faculty of Combat Application of Forces. He completed his studies in June 2021.

As the commander of a tank platoon, he neutralized thirty enemy vehicles. He died alongside another soldier during the night of 25 February 2022, near the Ukrainian-Belarusian border due to an airstrike. A rocket from a Russian Su-25 ground attack aircraft hit his tank directly.

He was laid to rest on 28 February 2022, in his hometown. He is survived by his parents, younger brother, and grandparents.

Awards
On 2 March 2022, he was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine with the Order of the Gold Star for personal courage and heroism demonstrated in defense of Ukraine's state sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as for his loyalty to the military oath.