No news of TV cameraman Vasyl Filimon – Suspilne

Photo: Suspilne

There have been no news about the soldier, TV cameraman Vasyl Filimon, the conditions he is being held in, or whether he needs medical help, reports the Suspilne press office.

On the Day of Ukraine's Defenders, his wife Yulia Filimon and his colleagues from "Suspilne Mykolaiv", Svitlana Klyosova and Valentyna Hurova, shared details about Vasyl's pre-war life and career.

"I married an extraordinary man! Sometimes very stubborn and cranky, but at the same time extremely sensitive, attentive, passionate and caring," says Vasyl's wife Yulia.

She remarked on his thirst for knowledge and self-improvement: before the war, he used to do sports, play chess, and read a lot. He was especially enthusiastic about the books of Daniel Kahneman, known for his works on cognitive psychology.

With the start of the war in the east of Ukraine, Vasyl has been donating blood at the transfusion center: he considered it his mission to save multiple lives.

Vasyl Filimon has been working at Suspilne since 2016. At the same time, he was working for a second (extramural) education and received a diploma in Management a few days before the full-scale war.

Svitlana Klyosova mentioned Vasyl's jokes, his firm character and erudition. He is always willing to partake an intellectual conversation or discussion and often initiates them himself.

"Vasya and I met six years ago on a filming site. At that time, I was just starting my journalistic career, and Vasyl worked as a cameraman at one of the Mykolaiv TV channels. He was so smiling, self-confident, sociable. A few years later, we became colleagues at 'Suspilne Mykolaiv'. There were dozens of interesting filming trips ahead. Vasya always volunteered for any job and did it well. I remember how in 2020 we went to the training ground at 4:30 a.m. to film paratroopers jumping. It was very cold and dark. I say: 'Vasya, let's take a picture from a helicopter, from above, if we can?' In just an hour, we were 800 meters above the city, and Vasya took the most beautiful shots I could ever imagine," says Svitlana.

Valentyna Hurova has known Vasyl since she was a student. They were friends even back then, and their friendship grew even stronger when he joined Suspilne.

"I don't know a more just and demanding person than Vasya. Whenever I need an unbiased and fully objective opinion about something, I know without hesitation that he is the person to talk to. On the morning of February 24, we met with the Filimon family, and I was not suprised by Vasyl's decision in the slightest – he went to enlist in the army. A sense of justice and that he should defend his wife, his parents, his brother and friends would not allow him to act otherwise. I am proud and miss him very much," says Valentyna.

The news about Vasyl Filimon's capture was reported by dozens of Ukrainian and foreign media outlets.

Vasyl's wife and Suspilne Broadcasting have made repeated appeals to the Ukrainian authorities and the international public, calling on them to contribute to the release of Vasyl Filimon in all and any possible ways.

As reported by IMI, in May 2022 Vasyl Filimon, a cameraman for Suspilne Broadcaster's Mykolaiv branch, Vasyl Filimon, who had been drafted into the Armed forces of Ukraine, was taken prisoner by the occupying forces of the Russian Federation. Vasyl Filimon was drafted into the Armed Forces on February 24, 2022, the first day of Russia's full-scale offensive.