Aliaksiej Mikalajevič Skoblia ( be, Аляксей Мікалаевіч Скобля, 14 March 1990 – 13 March 2022),

nom de guerre A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name (orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individua ...

"Tur" (, "Bison"), was a

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by R ...

ian soldier who was deputy commander of the Kastuś Kalinoŭski Battalion under the

Armed Forces of Ukraine , imports = , exports = , history = , ranks = Military ranks of Ukraine , country=Ukraine The Armed Forces of Ukraine ( uk, Збро́йні си́ли Украї́ни), most commonly known ...

. Skoblia died defending

Kyiv Kyiv, also spelled Kiev, is the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. It is in north-central Ukraine along the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2021, its population was 2,962,180, making Kyiv the List of European cities by populat ...

from advancing Russian troops during the Battle of Kyiv in the

2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...

. He was posthumously conferred the title of Hero of Ukraine by

President of Ukraine The president of Ukraine ( uk, Президент України, Prezydent Ukrainy) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, condu ...

Volodymyr Zelenskyy Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelenskyy, ; russian: Владимир Александрович Зеленский, Vladimir Aleksandrovich Zelenskyy, (born 25 January 1978; also transliterated as Zelensky or Zelenskiy) is a Ukrainian politicia ...

Early life

Aliaksiej Mikalajevič Skoblia was born in

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

, then part of the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

, on 14 March 1990. His mother was a kindergarten teacher and his father was a bus driver. From his childhood, he was interested in history. After the ninth grade, he entered a car mechanic college in Minsk. He took part in the

2011 Belarusian protests The 2011 Belarusian protests were a series of peaceful protests by demonstrators in Belarus demanding the resignation of current Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko, who had been the president of Belarus since 1994. Belarus is an author ...

against the government of Alexander Lukashenko, for which he was briefly arrested and fined.

Volunteer in Ukraine

In 2015, Skoblia went to Ukraine as a soldier for the

Ukrainian Armed Forces , imports = , exports = , history = , ranks = Military ranks of Ukraine , country=Ukraine The Armed Forces of Ukraine ( uk, Збро́йні си́ли Украї́ни), most commonly known ...

, eventually becoming a deputy commander. He was one of the leading members of the Belarusian opposition fighting for Ukraine in the War in Donbas. Between 2021 and 2022, he served in the Special Operations Forces of Ukraine on a contract basis. Following the

, Skoblia became deputy commander of the newly formed Kastuś Kalinoŭski Battalion of Belarusian volunteers. On 13 March 2022, on the outskirts of

, his unit was ambushed by Russian troops. Skoblia died from his wounds while covering the retreat of his troops. In the week preceding his death, he had rescued ten wounded soldiers of the battalion using his professional medical skills.

Memory

A farewell ceremony took place on 16 March 2022 at the Kyiv Crematorium, at which a specially-composed poem was read by one of the battalion's soldiers:

I will go through a steadily difficult path of endless and bloody war. Let us raise the flag of noble glory over our mighty shoulders. As
Kastuś Kalinoŭski Wincenty Konstanty Kalinowski, also known as Kastuś Kalinoŭski ( be, Касту́сь Каліно́ўскі also be, Вінцэ́нт Канстанці́н Каліно́ўскі, lit=Vincent Kanstancin Kalinoŭski, lt, Konstantinas Kalinau ...
is my example, so is the fate of my comrade lyaLitvin. I will liberate Belarus through the liberation of Ukraine. Like ''Tur'', I swear to defend my comrades-in-arms in the heat of the battle. Our honour will live forever in the memory of our homeland.

On 13 April 2022, Ukrainian President

posthumously awarded Skoblia the title of Hero of Ukraine "for personal courage and heroism in defending the state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, loyalty to the military oath."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skoblia, Aliaksiej 1990 births 2022 deaths Military personnel from Minsk Ukrainian people of Belarusian descent Ukrainian military personnel killed in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine Recipients of the title of Hero of Ukraine Foreign volunteers in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine