He served as a sniper with the Aidar battalion: 23-year-old Ukrainian athletics champion killed near Bakhmut

Athlete Bohdan Khodakovskyi gave his life for Ukraine in the battles against the Russian occupiers in the Donetsk region. The national pole vault champion was fighting as part of the Aidar battalion in one of the hottest areas, Bakhmut.

The tragedy occurred on May 15 near the fortress city of Bakhmut, which Russian troops have been unable to take for over 9 months. On March 1, Bohdan was only 23 years old, and two and a half months later he was killed during a combat mission.

"Despite his young age, Bohdan was a sniper. He proved himself to be a true athlete - brave, courageous - a defender of his homeland," the Ukrainian Athletics Instagram page says.

Khodakovskyi was born in Uzyn, Bila Tserkva district, Kyiv region. In recent years, the athlete lived in the village of Chupyra, where, according to his fellow countrymen, he left fond memories in everyone's hearts.

Since childhood, Bohdan has been involved in athletics and competed in competitions as part of the Kyiv region team. He trained with Yuriy Blonsky. Khodakovskyi repeatedly became a winner and prize-winner of the Ukrainian pole vaulting championships.

And after the start of the full-scale invasion of Russia, the 22-year-old volunteered to fight. The young athlete served as a sniper with the 24th Separate Assault Battalion "Aidar". Recently, together with his comrades, he performed combat missions in the Bakhmut sector.

At the end of April, Bohdan's family and his mother launched a fundraising drive to buy a drone for the athlete's brigade. However, on May 15, the Ukrainian defender's life was cut short in the Donetsk region in another heavy battle with the Russian occupiers.

On May 20, the hero was laid to rest in his native Uzyn.

"It is very difficult to say goodbye to such a young man forever. The war took him away at the beginning of his life... Bitterness of loss, piercing pain that cannot be forgiven... I bow low to the parents who raised a true patriot!" said Bohdan's countryman Igor Ivanchenko.

Earlier, OBOZREVATEL reported that a 19-year-old hockey player who had been a soldier since childhood was killed during the storming of Russian positions near Bakhmut.

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