Ukrainian serviceman and Plast member Vladyslav Iliin, missing for over one year, killed in action near Pokrovsk

Vladyslav Iliin with the alias Tinati, a Ukrainian serviceman and Plast member (Ukrainian scout organisation), was killed while carrying out a combat mission near Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast. He had been considered missing in action for over a year.

Source: Yurii Yuzych, head of the Regional Plast Council

Details: He served for several years in the marine infantry in Mariupol before joining the 72nd Separate Mechanised Brigade named after the Black Zaporozhians, said Yurii Yuzych, head of the Regional Plast Council.

According to Yuzych, Vladyslav was born in Sumy. He was a member of Plast in Mykolaiv and took part in the Legion military scouting camp in 2017. He was also involved in sports and wrestling.

In 2017 he voluntarily joined the Mykhailo Bilynskyi Marine Infantry Brigade and served there until 2021. After his discharge, Vladyslav trained as a fitter while also working as a waiter at the Zdybanka hotel and restaurant complex in his native Sumy.

"After Moscow's full-scale invasion, he joined the army as a senior soldier into the ranks of the 72nd Separate Mechanised Brigade named after the Black Zaporozhians. He took part in the battles for Vuhledar, where in 2024 he was wounded in the cheek and neck. He was treated in Zaporizhzhia. After rehabilitation he returned to the battlefield, serving in Mykolaiv Oblast and later in Donetsk Oblast," Yuzych said.

As a sapper with an engineer-sapper unit, Vladyslav, together with three brothers-in-arms, was carrying out a combat mission near positions by the village of Troitske in the Pokrovsk district, Donetsk Oblast.

During Russian mortar fire, anti-tank mines stored nearby detonated. All four servicemen were killed on the spot as a result of the explosions.

As the bodies of the fallen could not be identified for a long time, the serviceman was officially listed as missing in action for over a year. DNA testing of the remains later confirmed his identity.

He is survived by his fiancée, mother, family and friends.

Vladyslav Iliin became the 90th Plast member to be killed in action or from injuries sustained during the war, Yurii Yuzych added.

Background: On 28 August, 21-year-old assault trooper Danyil Smyrnov with the alias Surfer was killed in action. He was due to become a father within a few weeks. The farewell ceremony for the serviceman took place on 3 September in Kyiv.

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