"DUCHE"

Yevhenii was born on June 10, 1993, in the village of Borozen ske, Borozen ska Rural Hromada, Beryslav Raion, Kherson Oblast. In 2005, he moved with his family to Zhytomyr Oblast, to the village of Vyhiv, where he received incomplete secondary education. In September 2021, he enrolled in external studies at Korosten City Lyceum No. 11. He dreamed of entering university and obtaining higher education. On July 25, 2022, he was accepted into the first year of the National Academy of Internal Affairs. He was a Master of Sport in the bench press. He worked as a trainer in gyms, as a security guard at the “Sirius” corporation, and also as a bodyguard. In July 2020, he decided to devote himself to military service and joined the Separate Special-Purpose Detachment “Azov,” part of the National Guard of Ukraine. He served as a crewman in a mortar battery. He carried out combat missions in the JFO area. His call sign was “Duche.” Yevhenii met the full-scale invasion at the “Azov” base. From the first days, he became one of the defenders of Mariupol and “Azovstal.” “Duche” went through almost all of Mariupol without injuries, but severely strained his back. For some time he stayed in “Zheleziatchka,” a hospital on “Azovstal.” In May 2022, together with other defenders of “Azovstal,” he was taken prisoner by the enemy. They were transferred to a prison in the temporarily occupied settlement of Olenivka in Donetsk Oblast. On the night of July 28–29, 2022, the occupiers carried out a terrorist attack in the barracks of the Olenivka colony, as a result of which more than 50 Ukrainian soldiers were killed, including Yevhenii Horbatyi. In October 2022, bodies from Olenivka were transferred from the occupied territory to Ukraine. There were numerous examinations, DNA tests, and more. Only in March 2023, based on DNA analysis, his family received final confirmation of Yevhenii’s death. During the Olenivka attack, he sustained shrapnel injuries incompatible with life. “Duche” was laid to rest with full honors as a hero on June 24, 2023, in his home village of Vyhiv in Zhytomyr Oblast.