He wrote poems and songs for Kozak System and went through six rotations: what is known about Hlib Babich, who died at the frontline

The poet, soldier, and public figure Hlib Babich died at the front. His death shocked many people. Since 2014, Babich has been defending Ukraine in Donbas, having completed six rotations. He served in his native 10th Mountain Assault Brigade, for which he wrote the famous anthem "Give Me a Gun, Brother." His songs are performed by the popular Ukrainian band Kozak System.

Read more about this in OBOZREVATEL's article.

"I will leave my anxiety backpack ready"

The news that the author of the famous anthem of the 10th Brigade, "Give me a weapon, brother," 53-year-old Hlib Babich, had died spread on social media on the evening of July 28. Babich was known to many military men, musicians, politicians, and public figures.

Hlib had been fighting at the front since 2014, and described himself as having completed six rotations. "My life dissolved into six rotations and endless training grounds. When you realize that you fought in the 14th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th, you realize that you have become a little bit of a war yourself," he wrote on his Facebook page.

He fought in Debaltseve, at the Ostra Mohyla mound, on the Maryinka-Krasnohorivka line, Shyrokyne, Vodiane, near Popasna and Zolote.

In 2019, Babich resigned from the army for health reasons. All the sores that had been diligently driven deep, as the soldier himself wrote, came out. He was discharged, but the war was not over for him.

"Do not expect peace and warm slippers from me. This war must end only with victory. And victory is the restoration of justice. It is Ukraine within its legal borders, it is the absence of capitulation to the enemy, it is freedom.

In this place, it's customary to talk about "if" I come back. And about the alarming backpack. I say. I know where I will return and what I will do "if anything happens". And I will leave my backpack ready," Babich wrote.

With the start of the full-scale invasion, the alarm backpack came in handy. Hlib Babich went to defend Ukraine again and died on July 28.

He was engaged in community service

After his discharge from the army, Babich became involved in public and political work.

"We met him in 2019 after the elections, when an active part of society was formed that cared about what was happening in Ukraine. He often came to visit us in Ivano-Frankivsk, he was very well known here, although he was originally from Mykolaiv and recently lived in Kyiv," recalls Natalia Pertsovych, a member of the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Council.

Babich participated in the NGO "Community Matters" and created the NGO "Res_Publica. Brothers in Arms".

"He believed in a free and independent Ukraine and knew what it should be like. He was a philosopher, a dreamer. Very calm, but extremely strong in spirit. He might not say anything, but you could feel his inner strength when you were around him. And he never wasted time on trifles. I was reading his Facebook page late last night. And he wrote many things as a testament," Pertsovych says.

Before the war, Babich was engaged in business and raised his daughter Darka. Father and daughter were very close in spirit. They both wrote poetry, and the father often posted his daughter's poems on his page.

The first book of poems has been published

A collection of poems by Hlib Babich, "Poems and songs , has recently been published by the "Bilka" Publishing House. Its owner, Iryna Bilotserkivska, recalls that she had been persuading Hlib to allow his poems to be published for a long time.

"I dreamed of publishing Hlib for more than a year! From the very moment I read his "A Fine Day". I thought that such bombastic texts should be published by 2019. But no. So I pretended to be some kind of infantile creature who commented on his every post and pelted him with offers of cooperation with my small but damn proud publishing house, "Bilka!" Iryna recalls.

However, Hlib gently but consistently rejected all the offers. Until Iryna met the author in person during a project. She got a promise from him that she would prepare a manuscript from his poems that she found online. And he would edit and add to it.

"Hlib, when he saw the signal copy of his book, said that it was exactly what a collection of poems he had read all his life should be like! I am happy," Iryna describes.

"I saw his poems around 2017-18, and they impressed me. I was even more surprised because he hadn't published any of his books of poems about the war until then. Hlib was always busy, he didn't have time to collect and prepare a book, so I took it upon myself. For a month, I collected all his poems on social media, on the Internet, prepared a manuscript and handed it over to him.

And what is most surprising is that before he went to war in 2014, he was a Russian-speaking poet. And during the war, he started writing in Ukrainian, which is very rare. And his poems in Ukrainian turned into songs, they were so melodic. No wonder he was friends with musicians, they sang his works," says Iryna Bilotserkivska.

To publish the book, the publisher had to literally catch Hlib at events to talk to him. When everything was ready for printing, he sent Iryna the audio of his new poem "Molfar," which later became a song.

The layout had to be redone so that Molfar could be included in the collection.

"The presentation of the book was held in the Officers' House, there was a queue, and Hlib spent only two hours signing autographs. For the book's cover, we chose a poppy flower with a cross in the center," the publisher recalls.

She also adds that Hlib, despite no longer serving in the army, took up arms again on February 24 and joined the Kyiv military training unit, which was preparing for street fighting. He participated in the evacuation of Irpin residents. And after Russian troops were driven out of Kyiv, their battalion was sent to the front. He never liked to say where exactly.

Hlib Babich also wrote several lyrics for songs performed by the famous Kozak System band. Among them are "Give me a weapon, brother" and "Molfar". They became very popular.

Hlib Babich has a daughter and elderly parents, who live in Mykolaiv.