Yuri Lushchai

Yuri Volodomyrovich Lushchai (Юрій Володимирович Лущай, ; Юрий Владимирович Лущай; 10 February 1982 – 28 March 2024) was a Ukrainian Wikipedian, historian and poet.

Early life and education
Lushchai was born on 10 February in 1982 in Kramatorsk. His parents worked at a factory.

Lushchai started to be interested in history while studying at school. In 2006, he finished his master's degree at the Faculty of History in National University of Kharkiv. He was conducting historical research. In the early 2010s, he was a Ph.D. student at Kharkiv National Pedagogical University.

Career and writing
Lushchai worked as a teacher and lecturer. He began writing poems in Ukrainian in 1995. In 2000, Lushchai started to write rhymed poems, and in 2018, began writing fairy tales. He published a book in 2023.

As a Wikipedian
He wrote more than 300 articles in Russian Wikipedia. In Russian Wikipedia, he was 122nd among Wikipedians by the amount of edits made. His last edit was made on 25 March 2024. He was also long-serving administrator in Russian Wikipedia.

Personal life and death
In 2009, Lushchai registered on Russian Wikipedia. He became a patrolled user in 2012, and an administrator in 2018. Lushchai started approximately 300 articles. In 2015, 2017, and 2020, he was a member of Russian Wikipedia's Arbitration Committee.

On 6 April 2022, after the beginning of Russian invasion of Ukraine, he moved with his family to the west of Ukraine. Lushchai enlisted in the Ukrainian Army in January 2023, after several attempts. He was killed in action while defending his native Donetsk Oblast. Starting from 28 March, he was regarded as missing. Lushchai died near Ivanivske, Donetsk Oblast. He was buried on 10 April in Mukachevo Raion in Zakarpattia Oblast.

Legacy
According to Dmitry Kuzmin, as an important contributor to Russian Wikipedia, Lushchai is the most significant Russian cultural figure killed at Russo-Ukrainian War, and it is symbolic that he was fighting for Ukraine.