Lviv mourns stabbed ATO veteran Yuriy Bondarenko (PHOTOS)
Lviv is holding a farewell ceremony for 37-year-old Yuriy Bondarenko — an Anti-Terrorist Operation veteran and territorial recruitment center serviceman, hromadske’s correspondent reports. He was fatally wounded while checking a man's documents in Lviv.
On Friday, a farewell ceremony on Rynok Square honored three soldiers at once: Brazilian volunteer Luís Felipe Vieira Toledo Porto, Lviv native Andriy Krynytskyi, and Kharkiv-born Yuriy Bondarenko. The latter was killed on Wednesday evening in Lviv.
According to Lviv City Council, Yuriy Bondarenko graduated from Kharkiv State Zooveterinary Academy but worked in the restaurant business. He later joined the 16th Separate Mechanized Brigade during the ATO.
The serviceman was awarded the General Staff’s “ATO Participant” badge and the medals “Defender of the Fatherland” and “War Veteran.”
“Yuriy’s friends said that after the front lines, with his diagnosis, he could have been discharged. But he stayed. He wanted to be useful to Ukraine. He did his job honestly and responsibly — exactly as the state expected,” Lviv Mayor Andriy Sadovyi said.
Serhiy Hryshyn, editor-in-chief of the Islandia channel, said he became friends with Bondarenko when the veteran offered his pickup truck in 2023.
“I learned Yura was an ATO veteran, discharged due to wounds, who on February 24, 2022, jumped in his car and raced from Lviv to Kharkiv to join his guys. About a month later, during a meeting, Yura handed over $5,000, saying we knew what to do with it. That’s how we became friends; we met in Lviv every two or three months. Once Yura said he couldn’t sit on the sidelines and decided to mobilize again — this time into air defense. Later he transferred to the territorial recruitment center,” Hryshyn wrote.
Yuriy Bondarenko’s funeral service will be held at the Garrison Church of Sts. Peter and Paul; he will be buried at Lychakiv Cemetery.
On the evening of December 3, Yuriy Bondarenko was fatally stabbed: while checking documents, a 30-year-old Lviv resident knifed the serviceman and fled after using pepper spray.
Bondarenko was hospitalized with a critical femoral artery injury. Despite doctors’ efforts, he could not be saved.
“According to relatives, Yuriy collected knives, was passionate about history, and deeply loved Ukraine. He adored animals, appreciated tattoo art, was kind, fair and communicative, had a great sense of humor, always responded to requests for help, and knew how to support with both words and actions,” the city council said.
Yuriy Bondarenko is survived by his mother, grandfather and wife.
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