Oleh Ivanovych Kutsyn (; 23 November 1965 – 19 June 2022) was a Ukrainian public, political and military figure who was head of the "Legion of Freedom" of the

Svoboda Svoboda () means "freedom" in various Slavic languages. It may refer to: People * Svoboda (surname) Organizations Media * Radio Svoboda, operated by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty * ''Svoboda'' (newspaper), a daily Ukrainian language newspa ...

party. He was also commander of the 49th Infantry Battalion (commonly known as the Carpathian Sich Battalion), deputy head of the

Tiachiv Tiachiv (, ; ; ; ) is a city located on the Tisza River in Zakarpattia Oblast (region) in western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Tiachiv Raion (district). Today, the population is Names There are several alternative names used for ...

district state administration (2005–2006), and twice elected as a deputy of the Tiachiv City Council.

Biography

Oleh Kutsyn was born on 23 November 1965 in the city of

Ivano-Frankivsk Ivano-Frankivsk (, ), formerly Stanyslaviv, Stanislav and Stanisławów, is a city in western Ukraine. It serves as the administrative centre of Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast as well as Ivano-Frankivsk Raion within the oblast. Ivano-Frankivsk also host ...

, where his parents were studying at that time. He graduated from

Secondary School No. 1, now Secondary School No. 1 named after Vasyl Grenji-Donsky. From 2005 to 2006, he was the first deputy head of the Tiachiv District State Administration.

Political activity

In 1989, Oleh Kutsyn joined the "

People's Movement of Ukraine The People's Movement of Ukraine () is a Ukraine, Ukrainian political party and one of the first Opposition (politics), opposition parties in Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, Soviet Ukraine.The first officially registered opposition politica ...

" . On 4 October 1989, despite the strict ban by the communists, the

Flag of Ukraine The national flag of Ukraine (, ) consists of equally sized horizontal bands of blue and yellow. The blue and yellow bicolor flag was first seen during the 1848 Spring of Nations in Lemberg (Lviv), the capital of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lo ...

was hoisted for the first time in his native Tiachiv. It happened during the founding meeting of the Tiachiv district organization of the Movement. Since 2014, he created the Carpathian Sich Battalion to fight in the

war in Donbas The war in Donbas, or the Donbas war, was a phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine. The war Timeline of the war in Donbas (2014), began in April 2014, when Russian separatist forces in Ukraine, Russian para ...

. He later created the "Legion of Freedom", another Ukrainian volunteer battalion in the Donbas. In March 2017, the

Investigative Committee of Russia The Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF; ) has since January 2011 been the main federal investigating authority in Russia. Its name (''Sledstvennyi komitet'') is usually abbreviated to ''SKR'' (). The agency replaced the Ru ...

instituted criminal proceedings against Oleh Kutsyn for shelling in Donbas. Kutsyn was wounded in December, during the

Second Battle of Donetsk Airport The Second Battle of Donetsk Airport was an engagement between the Ukrainian military and Russian military and its proxy forces of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) during the War in Donbas. An earlier battle in May 2014 had left Donet ...

near the village of Pisky. Oleh Kutsyn died fighting Russian forces during the

battle of Izium On the eastern front of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a military engagement began in March 2022 between Russian and Ukrainian forces took place for control over the city of Izium, an important transportation node. The Russian military wan ...

in June 2022.

References

External links

* 1965 births 2022 deaths Military personnel from Ivano-Frankivsk People of the Revolution on Granite Politicians from Ivano-Frankivsk Svoboda (political party) politicians Ukrainian military personnel killed in the Russian invasion of Ukraine Ukrainian military personnel of the war in Donbas {{Ukraine-bio-stub