Yuriy Ruf (), real name Yuriy Romanovych Dadak (; 26 September 1980 – 1 April 2022) was a Ukrainian poet, writer, scientist, public figure, and founder of a literary project "" ("Nation's spirit").

Biography

Yuriy Ruf was born in 1980 in the Ternopil region of Ukraine. His publications include "Багряна лірика" (2012), "Час Революції" (2014), and "На зламі епох" (2015). His poetry was also included in Ukrainian modern nationalist poetry compilations "Голос крові" (2013), and "Відлуння свинцевих громовиць" (2015). Yuriy Ruf began writing poetry when he was 14 years old. He is known for his critical views toward traditional Ukrainian poetry where, according to him, Ukrainians are predominantly portrayed as poor and ill-fated. He believed such poetry lowers self-esteem and a sense of national pride. He, therefore, considered his poetry to be a type of poetic propaganda of patriotism. Fans describe his poetry as "front line lyrics", that is poetry of war and patriotism aimed at raising fighting spirit, delivering motivation, and a sense of national pride. His most recent publication "На зламі епох" (2015) was dedicated to Ukrainian heroes of the current

Russian-Ukrainian war The Russo-Ukrainian War began in February 2014 and is ongoing. Following Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, Russia Russian occupation of Crimea, occupied and Annexation of Crimea by the Russian Federation, annexed Crimea from Ukraine. It then ...

, and contains verses honoring certain individuals, military units, Ukrainian soldiers, battles, and other wartime events. He lived in

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 ...

, and was a father of two children. He was a reservist for the

24th mechanized brigade The 24th Mechanized Brigade (, abbreviated ) is a mechanized brigade of the Ukrainian Ground Forces, based at Yavoriv in the west of Ukraine. The brigade, the oldest in continuous service within the Ground Forces, was originally formed as the 1 ...

, and was killed in action 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 ...

Luhansk Oblast Luhansk Oblast (; ), also referred to as Luhanshchyna (), is the easternmost Administrative divisions of Ukraine, oblast (province) of Ukraine. Its administrative center is the city of Luhansk. The oblast was established in 1938 and bore the n ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruf, Yuriy 1980 births 2022 deaths People from Berezhany Military personnel from Ternopil Oblast Ukrainian National Forestry University alumni 21st-century Ukrainian writers Ukrainian male poets Ukrainian nationalists 21st-century Ukrainian poets Ukrainian military personnel killed in the Russian invasion of Ukraine