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27.02.2025, 09:00
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The King Who Forever Became a Prince. In Memory of a Warrior from Crimea
On the eve of the New Year, on December 29, the community of Crimean Ukrainians was shocked by the sad news: another of our countrymen gave his life in defense of Ukraine against full-scale Russian aggression. On December 29, during an assault near the village of Novovasylivka, Pokrovsk district, Donetsk region, Viktor Korol, a senior soldier of the 9th MIB of the 59th Brigade named after Yakov Handziuk, sustained life-threatening bullet wounds. Thanks to his professionalism and courage, the lives and health of two comrades were saved; before the arrival of the evacuation team, the soldiers held the position, whose leader was their friend Prince and was named after him, for several days, and the enemy failed to advance. Today Viktor Korol would have turned 41 years old.
The story of his son, without exaggeration, is being told to the whole world today by Yuriy Korol, a former serviceman who, before the Russian occupation of Crimea, headed the district branch of the Taras Shevchenko All-Ukrainian Society "Prosvita" in Bakhchisarai. Viktor Korol, who was born in Sevastopol, spent a certain part of his life in this city.
From an early age, Viktor's passion was literature. However, after graduating from the lyceum school in Bakhchisarai, he pursued higher education in a technical field - first at the Ivan Puluj Ternopil National Technical University and later at the Lutsk National Technical University.
In addition, Viktor Korol served in the 36th Separate Coastal Defense Brigade of the Ukrainian Navy (Perevalne village, Simferopol district, Crimea). After his demobilization, he opened his own company producing cabinet furniture. He was also involved in public activities - he headed the Crimean Brotherhood NGO and contributed to the activities of the Bakhchisarai Prosvita and the Ukrainian House NGO, including patriotic events.
After the Russian occupation of Crimea in 2014, Viktor Korol left his native land and settled in Ternopil. Over time, he voluntarily joined the ranks of the 6th Zbruch Territorial Defense Battalion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine as a senior rifleman. In June 2015, after his demobilization, he joined the Ternopil regional branch of the Right Sector Volunteer Ukrainian Corps.
Consciously striving to adopt foreign military experience in order to be useful to his native country, in 2017 Viktor Korol joined the ranks of the French Legion. He served at the training center of the 1st Foreign Regiment in Aubagne, France. Over time, he decided to return to Ternopil and adapt the experience he gained abroad in a real war with his comrades-in-arms.
In his free time, Viktor Korol, together with the Ternopil fighters of the Right Sector, underwent combat coordination, tactical training, and tactical medicine at training grounds.
Soon he went to the combat zone: in early 2020, he performed tasks in the city of Avdiivka, Donetsk region, as part of the 1st separate assault company of the Air Force, commanded by the legendary "Da Vinci" Dmytro Kotsiubailo.
The following year, Viktor Korol was awarded the medal "For the Defense of
Avdiivka" (order of the head of the Avdiivka City Military-Civilian Administration No. 3152 of June 28) and the "For Special Service" badge of the III degree of the Commander of the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (order No. 417 of October 12).
The 1st Separate Special Forces Brigade of the Air Force met the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022 in eastern Ukraine, participating in the battles for Schastya in the Luhansk region. In April 2022, the Da Vinci Wolves battalion was formed on the basis of this company and the Honor unit as part of the 7th Center of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. At the end of 2022, the battalion became part of the 67th Separate Mechanized Brigade, which formed the 1st Separate Mechanized (later Assault) Battalion.
During this time, Viktor Korol performed combat missions in various parts of the front in Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, and Donetsk regions, participating in operations in Bakhmut, Kupiansk, Lyman, and other areas as a senior gunner, senior combat medic, control operator, and artillery battery commander. In 2023, he was awarded the Commander of the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine's insignia "For Valor" (No. 0048, Order No. 188 of 09.04.2023) and the Honorary Badge of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine "For Saved Life" (Order No. 3084 of 25.12.2023).
In February 2024, the Da Vinci Wolves became part of the 59th Yakiv Handziuk Mechanized Brigade. Viktor Korol, who had been acting as the artillery battery commander since then, was nominated for an officer's rank, but the papers were lost at headquarters. At the same time, with the assistance of the Permanent Representative of the President of Ukraine in the AR of Crimea, the Veterans Council of the Crimean Council of Ukrainians recommended the candidacy of Prince's friend for the Order of Merit III degree - but the fate of this recommendation is still unknown. Since then, Viktor Korol has not set himself the goal of climbing the military career ladder; he has simply fulfilled his duties responsibly, officially and unofficially holding senior positions and taking responsibility for his comrades.
At the end of August 2024, near Selidove in the Donetsk region, friend Prince received shell shock and severe injuries. After two surgeries and recovery, he went back to the
front line again. At the end of the year, enemy bullets ended his life.
On January 6, 2025, the body of the fallen soldier, found after a long and persistent search initiated by his father, was cremated in Kyiv. According to his parents' will, the soldier's ashes will be buried at the National Military Memorial Cemetery in the village of Hatne near Kyiv. While still alive, Viktor himself bequeathed that in the event of his death, his ashes should be scattered in the places where he spent his childhood years...
On February 17, Czech television aired the documentary film "Father is Looking for His Son," dedicated to Viktor Korol. According to the authors of the film, Darya Stomatova and Yan Shurger, his difficult combat path takes a worthy place among the many stories of Ukrainian soldiers who went missing in the war or laid their lives on the altar of Ukrainian independence.
We must keep the memory of our fallen defenders alive, with the hope of honoring their names in their native land after its liberation.
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The published material is copyrighted. The opinions expressed in the author's blog may not coincide with the position of the editors of the «Voice of Crimea» IA.
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