Lviv bids farewell to defender Lemberg, killed in Bakhmut in 2023

The funeral service for Stselnikov began at the Garrison Church of Saints Peter and Paul. A citywide farewell ceremony then took place on Rynok Square. The defender was buried at Lychakiv Cemetery in the Field of Honor No. 87.

An exhibition of paintings was also opened at the Lviv Oblast Ivanychuk Library for Youth, which the mother of the deceased defender, Olena Cherninka, dedicated to her fallen son.

More about Mykhailo-Viktor Stselnikov

With the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion he joined the defense of the homeland. He fought on the Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Kherson and Donetsk axes as part of the 206th Separate Territorial Defense Battalion of the Territorial Defense Forces and the 93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade “Kholodnyi Yar.”

According to relatives, he was a sincere, bright and highly motivated person with a clear civic position on the war in Ukraine.

“He stood out for his responsibility, devotion and high moral principles, always supported those close to him, knew how to cheer people up with a joke. He loved life, ran, was passionate about shooting, cared for animals, was a blood donor. He was courageous and self-sacrificing, ready to stand up for others,” the city council reported.

Earlier, the press officer of the 93rd Mechanized Brigade, Iryna Rybakova, told hromadske that Mykhailo-Viktor Stselnikov, callsign Lemberg, was killed in May 2023 in Bakhmut.

Because his body could not be evacuated for a long time, he was officially listed as missing. DNA testing confirmed Mykhailo-Viktor Stselnikov’s death on February 20 this year.

In 2024, Olena Cherninka presented the book Lemberg: Mom, Don’t Cry — stories and letters to her son who went missing in the war, callsign Lemberg. She said her son joined Ukraine’s defense after the full-scale invasion and spent a year and a half at war.

Lemberg’s father, Mykhailo Stselnikov, is a suspect in the murder of MP Andriy Parubiy. During a court hearing he admitted guilt for the act and called his actions “revenge against Ukrainian authorities.” He said he was waiting for the quickest possible sentence so he could be exchanged for prisoners of war and search for his son’s body.

Journalists later established that the suspect in Parubiy’s murder had justified Russia’s aggression even before his son went missing. His ex-wife Olena Cherninka said she has had no contact with the defendant for almost 30 years.

She said she raised Mykhailo-Viktor alone, while his father “appeared occasionally,” such as on September 1 or for some significant event. According to her, when her son went to war they quarreled with his father because “one was a patriot and the other was not.”