"A nightmare for parents": 21-year-old Kraken fighter and World Cup winner killed in action for Soledar

A fighter of the Kraken special unit of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine Kyrylo Baev was killed while holding back the Russian occupiers in the Soledar area. The Ukrainian defender and winner of the World Cup in Cossack fighting was only 21 years old. He was supposed to write his diploma thesis, but instead took up arms to defend Ukraine and his native Kharkiv.

The Kharkiv resident started his career in sports at the age of 10 when he chose judo at the Slobozhanets sports club. From 2011 to 2015, Baev practised this type of martial arts. After gaining the necessary wrestling base, he turned his attention to other sports.

Kyrylo was a multiple champion of the Kharkiv region in Cossack wrestling, then won the Ukrainian championship, which paved the way for him to compete internationally. The Kharkiv resident became a medallist at the World Championships and the World Cup in Cossack fighting, as well as a candidate for master of sports.

Baev also successfully practised horting, a Ukrainian martial art named after the island of Khortytsia, where the Sich was located. Kyrylo was a prize-winner at the Ukrainian Horting Championships. He has fought in over 40 amateur fights, defending the colours of the Kharkiv sports club "Warrior". From 2015 to 2018, Baev also tried his hand at MMA.

After school, Kyrylo entered H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University, Faculty of Physical Education and Sports. He entered the Faculty of Physical Education and Sports. This year he was supposed to write his bachelor's thesis. But after the full-scale invasion and attempted occupation of his hometown, he joined the Kraken unit, which initially terrified the occupiers in the north-east of the country.

And this winter, Bayev, with the call sign "Bayan", and his comrades were holding back enemy attacks in Donetsk region. The 21-year-old hero was killed on January 14, 2023, during an assault near the town of Soledar in the Bakhmut district.

"Kyrylo will remain in our memory as a sincere and open-minded person with an unbreakable character, willpower, courage, inexhaustible energy and active citizenship," the university responded to the death of its student.

In the memorial match that took place on February 19 as part of the regular Ukrainian hockey championship between Kyiv's Sokol and HC Kremenchuk, 19-year-old Maksym Maksymenko, the 73rd number of the Kremenchuk club, took to the ice with the call sign of the Kraken fighter on his back.

Thanks to posts on social media, Kyrylo's story has been shared outside Ukraine. First of all, foreigners are impressed by the youth of the athlete, who still had his whole life ahead of him.

"21 years old! Still almost a boy... My condolences to his family. Losing a child is a nightmare for every parent. And all because of this Kremlin monster," said Eva Duspivová from the Czech Republic.

Earlier OBOZREVATEL told that the wife of the dead cyborg and world champion went to the AFU to complete her husband's case.

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