President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has signed decrees conferring the titles of Hero of Ukraine, along with the Orders of the Golden Star, posthumously upon Junior Sergeant Vitalii Karvatskyi and Soldier Oleh Yarovyi.
Vitalii Karvatskyi voluntarily joined the Territorial Defense Forces at the start of the full-scale Russian aggression. Throughout 2022–2023, he carried out combat missions in some of the most difficult sectors of the front, holding forward positions and actively participating in complex assault operations.
In January last year, he voluntarily transferred to the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade, which had just been deployed to the Avdiivka direction, where heavy fighting was ongoing at the time. On the outskirts of the Avdiivka Coke Plant, Vitalii Karvatskyi eliminated eight Russian infantrymen.
In March of last year, he took part in battles for Orlivka and Semenivka in the Pokrovsk direction.
Since April 2024, he had continued serving as an FPV attack drone operator in the Kharkiv direction. He personally eliminated more than 600 enemy infantrymen, dozens of armored vehicles – including tanks, IFVs, and APCs – as well as numerous bunkers and fortified enemy firing positions. His actions significantly weakened the offensive potential of the occupiers.
Vitalii Karvatskyi was killed on June 12 of this year by a Russian FPV drone strike on the vehicle in which he was traveling to his position.
Oleh Yarovyi served as a combat engineer in the 108th Separate Assault Battalion of Unmanned Systems (the “Da Vinci Wolves”), part of the 59th Separate Assault Brigade of Unmanned Systems named after Yakiv Handziuk. In August of last year, in the city of Ukrainsk, Donetsk region, he stood alone against an assault company of occupiers and held the position for a week, repelling repeated attacks.
In September of last year, during an enemy attack in Selydove, Oleh Yarovyi was wounded but refused evacuation. He seized the enemy’s ammunition and independently set up a defensive position. He assumed command of the Territorial Defense Forces warriors, who found themselves in a semi-encirclement. This allowed Ukrainian forces to repel the attacks and stabilize the situation on that part of the front.
In December 2024, in the village of Novopustynka, he remained alone at his position facing a numerically superior enemy force. Armed with only one machine gun, he eliminated more than 20 occupiers. Thanks to this, the line, which held tactical importance for the entire defense line of his battalion, was successfully held.
In March of this year, Oleh Yarovyi taught himself to operate drones and used them to evacuate the wounded, deliver ammunition, and adjust artillery fire. His actions saved dozens of lives of his brothers-in-arms.
During a Russian attack on July 10, Oleh Yarovyi was killed in a firefight, defending his position to the very end.