Sviatoslav Yaroslavovych Palamar ('Kalyna') is a

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

and the current deputy commander of the

Azov regiment The 12th Special Forces Brigade "Azov" () is a formation of the National Guard of Ukraine formerly based in Mariupol, in the coastal region of the Sea of Azov, from which it derives its name. It was founded in May 2014 as the Azov Battalion (), ...

within the

National Guard of Ukraine The National Guard of Ukraine (NGU; , ; /NHU ) is the Ukrainian national gendarmerie and internal military force. It is part of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, responsible for public security. Originally created as an agency under the dire ...

. During the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

, Palamar was involved in fighting Russian forces during the siege of

Mariupol Mariupol is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast (Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius, Kalmius River. Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it was the tenth-largest city in the coun ...

, within the Azovstal steelworks.

Early life

Sviatoslav Palamar was born on October 10, 1982, in

Mykolaiv Mykolaiv ( ), also known as Nikolaev ( ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city and a hromada (municipality) in southern Ukraine. Mykolaiv is the Administrative centre, administrative center of Mykolaiv Raion (Raions of Ukraine, district) and Myk ...

, a town near

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

, where he lived until he was a student. He studied at the Lviv University of Trade and Economics. He describes himself as Galician. Prior to the war he worked as a commercial director in a company. In 2000, Palamar joined the

Patriot of Ukraine The Patriot of Ukraine () was an ultranationalist organization in Ukraine founded in 1999, disbanded in 2004, revived in 2005 and defunct since December 2014. In its original form, it was launched in 1999 and became paramilitary wing of the Soc ...

nationalist group. At the time, the organisation was known for far-right views. One of the group's leaders,

Andriy Biletsky Andriy Yevheniiovych Biletsky ( ; born 5 August 1979) is a Ukrainian far-right politician. He is the leader of political party National Corps. He was the first commander of the volunteer militia Azov Battalion, which he founded in 2014, and a c ...

, would later be involved in founding the Azov Battalion (as it was then known). However, in a later interview in 2022, Palamar would deny that members of the regiment wore swastikas or other Nazi insignia, and emphasised the status of Azov as a military unit. Prior to the onset of war in eastern Ukraine, Palamar participated in the

Orange Revolution The Orange Revolution () was a series of protests that led to political upheaval in Ukraine from late November 2004 to January 2005. It gained momentum primarily due to the initiative of the general population, sparked by the aftermath of the ...

and the

Revolution of Dignity The Revolution of Dignity (), also known as the Maidan Revolution or the Ukrainian Revolution, took place in Ukraine in February 2014 at the end of the Euromaidan protests, when deadly clashes between protesters and state forces in the capit ...

. He has a wife and a child.

Military service

Palamar previously served in the

Donbas war 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 ...

which began in 2014. In an interview with pro-Azov military journalist Oleksiy Suvorov, he stated that he had adopted his

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally as ...

because the

guelder rose ''Viburnum opulus'', commonly known as the guelder-rose, or guelder rose (), is an Old World species of flowering plant in the family Adoxaceae. Description ''Viburnum opulus'' is a deciduous shrub growing to tall. The leaves are opposite, th ...

or 'Kalyna' in Ukrainian is a traditional symbol associated with Ukraine. Following the

, he was involved in fighting in Mariupol and was one of the commanders of a group of soldiers which retreated to the Azovstal steelworks. These soldiers included the Azov regiment and Ukrainian marines. During the siege of Mariupol, Captain Palamar took part in several press conferences and interviews with the media on behalf of the Azov Battalion and the soldiers trapped in the steelworks, which included Marines and National Guardsmen, alongside

Denys Prokopenko Denys Hennadiyovych Prokopenko (born 27 June 1991) is a Ukrainian military officer who is a Lieutenant colonel (Eastern Europe), lieutenant colonel in the National Guard of Ukraine and commander of the 12th Special Forces Brigade "Azov Brigade ...

and other fighters. On 12 May 2022, he gave an interview to ''

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' (; originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , , ) is an List of newspapers in Israel, Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel. The paper is published in Hebrew lan ...

'', an Israeli newspaper. In this interview he likened the military history of and attacks on Ukraine to that in Israel. He claimed that he had received no order to leave and that he was unwilling to leave dead and injured fellow soldiers behind, explaining the decision to remain in the steelworks. After the Ukrainian surrender in Azovstal, Russian forces said they captured Palamar among other commanders. On 21 September 2022, as part of a prisoner-of-war exchange, Palamar was released from Russian captivity. Under the terms of the deal, it was agreed that he, along with four other officers released in the exchange, would remain in Turkey until the end of the war. On 8 July 2023, Ukrainian President

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy (born 25 January 1978) is a Ukrainian politician and former entertainer who has served as the sixth and current president of Ukraine since 2019. He took office five years after the start of the Russo-Ukraini ...

announced that Azov commanders had been brought back to Ukraine from Turkey, posting a video of five Azov commanders boarding his plane, including Palamar.

Awards

As a result of his military service during this war, he was awarded a number of medals including the

Order of Danylo Halytsky The Order of Daniel of Galicia, Danylo Halytsky () is an award of Ukraine. The Order was instituted on February 20, 2003, by the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine to honour the military men of the Military of Ukraine, Armed Forces of Ukraine and other mi ...

, the

Medal For Military Service to Ukraine The Medal For Military Service to Ukraine () is an award of Ukraine. It was established by the Decree of the President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma on October 5, 1996, to honour servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations ...

, the Breastplate for Valiant Service and the Breastplate for the Defence of Mariupol. On 1 October 2022 he was awarded the title of

Hero of Ukraine A Hero of Ukraine (HOU; ) is the highest national decoration that can be conferred upon an individual citizen by the president of Ukraine. The decoration was created in 1998 by President Leonid Kuchma. As of 6 June 2025, the total number of re ...

by President of Ukraine.Decree of the President of Ukraine from 1 жовтня 2022 year № 684/202
«Про присвоєння С.Паламарю звання Герой України»

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Palamar, Sviatoslav Ukrainian military personnel of the Russian invasion of Ukraine People from Mykolaiv, Lviv Oblast Prisoners of war held by Russia Ukrainian military leaders People of the National Guard of Ukraine Ukrainian military personnel of the war in Donbas Siege of Mariupol 1982 births Living people Recipients of the title of Hero of Ukraine