As written by the head of the Korosten State Administration
Vadym Prokopenko was born on August 24, 1984, in the village of Chopovychi, then in the Malyn district of Zhytomyr Oblast. From childhood he was drawn to art: drawing, sculpting busts of atamans from plasticine, reading many books, and he was interested in the history of the Cossacks. By the age of fourteen the young man began writing poetry.
The year of finishing school – 2001 – proved a difficult test: the young man lost his father then. In 2002–2004 Vadym served in the border troops in Mukachevo.
Life path and service
After the army he decided to study part-time: he earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting and auditing from the State Academy of Statistics, Accounting and Auditing of the State Statistics Service of Ukraine. However, he did not work in his specialty in the construction industry.
In 2015 he volunteered to join the ATO. He fought alongside his comrades in Luhansk Oblast. After returning to civilian life, he gave lectures on national-patriotic education and shared with the youth his memories of service in the East of Ukraine. He joined the Brotherhood of the Cossack Combat Tradition “Spas.”
Together with his comrades they created and published a children’s poetry book “Grandfather’s Stories”: Vadym Prokopenko – author of the text; illustrations were created by artist Volodymyr Mashevskyi from Dnipro; publisher – Marko Melnyk.
“When I returned from the war, I decided to do something very important,” Vadym said in 2019 in an interview with the Black Sea TV and Radio Company on the program “Important PRO.”
The author’s combat experience influenced his decision to publish a work for children. “I want the younger generation to be proud of their history, to know it and to be conscious. We are a very large and beautiful nation,” Vadym said.
In a poetic exchange between a curious grandson and his grandfather, readers learned the history of the Cossacks. Grandfather’s Stories were presented in Kholodnyi Yar and in Lviv at a book fair. The print run was small because printing required significant funds, but the books sold quickly.
At the end of the book there is a glossary explaining who the Khazars and mystics are. The next little book would have been about hetman Ivan Sirko.
On the morning of February 24, 2022, when the full-scale war began, Vadym answered the first summons and went to the recruitment center.
He served in several units. At first he was sent to the 101st Separate Brigade of the General Staff’s Protection, then to the 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade and the 78th Separate Air Assault Regiment.
In early June 2023 the brigade received the task of breaking through the Russian defense in Zaporizhzhia from Orikhiv to Malaya Tokmachka along the front line toward Tokmak. Russian forces established several lines of defense and mined fields; Ukrainian soldiers operated in groups of four under artillery cover.
On July 8, 2023, during a combat mission in the Zaporizhzhia region, Vadym stepped on a mine. Of the four comrades, only one survived.
“In our hearts and souls, in our memory, there will forever remain the memory of a strong, confident in himself, open to people serviceman, a warrior who gave his life for the peaceful future of his homeland”
They bade farewell to the fallen on July 19 at St. Volodymyr’s Cathedral in Kyiv. He was buried in the Alley of Glory at Lukyanivske Cemetery.
“He was a sincere, polite and well-mannered person with patriotic views since childhood. Vadym was fond of history and well-versed in it. From the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war he mobilized. In the final months they fought together.”
“Cheerful, brave, talented, ready to help – that’s how his relatives and friends remember the hero.”
For his merits Vadym Prokopenko was awarded the honorary badge “Best Sergeant of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” and was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage, III degree. He is survived by a family and two children.
The memory of the hero and his contribution to children’s literature will remain a source of inspiration for future generations: his life is an example of serving Ukraine, and his poems and stories about the Cossacks are a path to patriotic culture among children and youth.
Useful reading:
- Ukrainian soldier Valid, known as “Crimea,” survived FSB captivity and now leads a drone unit defending Donbas, exemplifying resilience and courage in ongoing conflict.
- A mural in Kamianets-Podilskyi honors Roman Ivanenko, a fallen Ukrainian humorist, actor, and soldier who died defending his country during the war.
- Ukrainian actor and soldier Oleksiy Nakonechnyi died in a car accident returning from leave, leaving behind a grieving family and a legacy of patriotism.
