18-year-old Ukrainian futsal player killed in battles for Avdiivka: he was in an assault brigade and dreamed of a café in Spain

On February 15, Lviv said goodbye to a local futsal player, 18-year-old Bohdan Kozak, who died in the war with the Russian occupiers. The young athlete fought together with the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which recently performed missions in Donbas. In March, Bohdan was about to turn 19 years old.

Kozak was a graduate of Lviv secondary school 27 named after the Heavenly Hundred hero Yurii Verbytskyi. After school, the future defender studied at the Lviv Higher Vocational School of Food Technology. After completing his studies, Bohdan first did an internship and then worked as a senior waiter-administrator at the Dynastiia (Dynasty) restaurant.

Kozak was also seriously involved in futsal. Before joining the ranks of the Defense Forces, he played for the Kyiv-based Club of Games Sports. Bohdan trained under the guidance of coach Yurii Shukatka. He was a prize winner of the Ukrainian Futsal Championship and the National Futsal Cup.

After the start of the full-scale invasion of Russia, many of the athlete's relatives stood up to defend their homeland, so in 2023, after his 18th birthday, Kozak also decided to go to the front and signed a contract with the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade.

Bohdan received military training in the Spanish city of Toledo. After the victory, he dreamed of going there with his parents and opening a small cafe. According to his family, he was extremely sociable, the life of the party. At the same time, he was purposeful and self-organized, and had an extremely firm and persistent character.

After studying in Spain, Kozak and his comrades performed combat missions in the eastern part of the frontline. It should be noted that the soldiers of the legendary 3rd Brigade fought in the hottest spots of Donbas, liberated territories in the Bakhmut sector, and were recently urgently redeployed to reinforce Ukrainian troops in the Avdiivka area.

Most of all, Kozak wanted to liberate Mariupol from the Russian occupiers. But, unfortunately, on February 13, Lviv received the news of Bohdan's death. He fought his last battle in the Avdiivka sector. The funeral for the 18-year-old hero took place on February 15 at the Garrison Church.

"I happened to be at the funeral, and you know, when I entered the church where people were saying goodbye to Bohdan... I saw a lot of people! Do you remember the funeral of Kuzma Scriabin? Do you remember how many people were there? Well, an incredible number of people came to say goodbye to this guy! The church was simply overcrowded! During the prayer, I did not see a single unteary eye! Everyone was crying and paying their respects! Yes, we grieve every time we see the best people go, every time the innocent die!" Natalia Holovko wrote on her Facebook page.

Earlier, it was reported that a boxer from Lviv was killed near Bakhmut. Before the full-scale invasion, he was dismissed from the army for health reasons.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!