Mykolaiv bird photographer Oleksiy Sapuha killed in combat

Oleksiy Sapuha, a bird photographer from Mykolaiv, was killed in action on July 30, as announced by his colleagues and friends on Facebook.

Mykolayiv journalist, soldier Vakhtang Kipiani reported that Oleksiy had been conscripted a few months before and was carrying out combat tasks in Donetsk oblast by July.

"Oleksiy Sapuha has passed away – the best of the best. A fellow Mykolaivan. A man of incredible kindness, optimism, friendliness, who never refused to help. Hands of gold. Known and loved by everyone in our Ukrainian bird community. He was drafted a few months ago, that's when we last saw each other, he texted me a few times and sent photos from the training camp. In July he texted me from Donetsk, sent a photo of the newspaper 'Sprotyv' and said, 'We are starting to collect the press,'" Vakhtang Kipiani wrote.

Oleksiy Sapuha. Photo by Vakhtang Kipiani on Facebook

He added that Oleksiy Sapuha's funeral will take place at the Berkivtsy cemetery on August 13.

Kipiani also shared the card number of Oleksiy's wife Olha and called to support the late photographer's family: 5218 3200 0023 0028.

Ihor Stepurin, executive director of the Ukrainian Association of Publishers and Book Distributors, also made a post about Oleksiy Sapuha.

"A wonderful animal and bird photographer from Mykolaiv, Oleksiy Sapuha, who took fantastic pictures of birds, especially of my native southern Ukraine, has been killed in action. He planned to publish a book of photos. Bright memory to you, Oleksiy," wrote Ihor Stepurin.

Maksym Havryliuk, director of the Education and Research Institute of Natural and Agrarian Sciences at the Bohdan Khmelnytskyi University of Cherkasy, wrote that Oleksiy Sapuha was an avid bird watcher, and that he had fond memories of their two meetings.

"War truly takes away the best. One of them was Oleksiy Sapuha. Some people are easy and pleasant to talk to. Oleksiy was one of them. We wrote to each other a lot and discussed birds on the phone, Oleksiy was an avid bird watcher. By the way, his list of birds he has spotted in Ukraine is longer than mine. We only met twice. And I have fond memories from these meetings. When we write that we will not forgive the Russians for this war, these are not empty words. We will not forgive them until the day we die. Because they are wiping out our cities and killing our best people. May your memory be bright, Oleksiy. Thank you for being in my life. Thank you for defending Ukraine. Eternal glory!" wrote Maksym Havryliuk.

The bird watcher community dedicated the summer bird watching contest, which took place across Ukraine on Sunday, August 11, to Oleksiy Sapuha's memory.