1987–2022
Yurii Tymus
Mi-8 pilot, flew into besieged Mariupol
Before the full-scale war he flew Mi-8 helicopters on peacekeeping missions in Liberia and Congo. In spring 2022 Lt Col Yurii Tymus flew into encircled Mariupol and was killed while carrying badly wounded soldiers out. Hero of Ukraine (posthumously).
Key accomplishments
- Graduated from the Ivan Kozhedub Kharkiv Air Force University (2008); Mi-8 helicopter commander and flight instructor with the 16th Brody Army Aviation Brigade
- Took part in peacekeeping missions in Liberia and Congo; flew combat missions in eastern Ukraine from 2014
- Defended Kyiv in February–March 2022, flying 28 combat sorties
- On 31 March 2022 flew one of the seven runs of the air bridge into encircled Mariupol
- Order For Courage, 3rd class (2022); Hero of Ukraine, posthumously (decree No. 661/2024 of 30 September 2024)
From Liberia to Mariupol
Did you know that long before the full-scale war, Yurii Tymus flew a Mi-8 helicopter on peacekeeping missions in Liberia and Congo? That experience mattered in spring 2022, when helicopters were breaking through to encircled Mariupol.
A boy from near Brody
Yurii Tymus was born on 2 May 1987 in the village of Ditkivtsi near Brody in Lviv region. In 2008 he graduated from the Air Force University in Kharkiv and went on to serve with the 16th Brody Army Aviation Brigade. He became a Mi-8 helicopter commander, a first-class pilot and an instructor, and from 2014 he flew combat missions in eastern Ukraine.
The sky over Kyiv
From 24 February 2022 Tymus defended Kyiv. In February and March he flew 28 combat sorties, striking russian armour heading for the capital. On 10 March 2022 he was awarded the Order For Courage, 3rd class.
The run to Mariupol
By late March Mariupol had been encircled for weeks. Army Aviation helicopters broke through to the city, carrying volunteers, weapons, medicine and food in and flying the wounded out. On 31 March Yurii Tymus flew the fifth of seven such runs. On the way back, with badly wounded soldiers on board, his helicopter was hit by a russian missile near the village of Rybatske. The 34-year-old commander was killed together with navigator Denys Badika and flight engineer Ivan Vakhovskyi. For more than two years Yurii was listed as missing; in 2024 he was buried in Brody, and on 30 September 2024 he was made a Hero of Ukraine, the country’s highest title, posthumously.
Why it matters today
When Mariupol was under siege, helicopters linked its defenders with the rest of Ukraine, and Yurii Tymus knew what he was taking on each time he lifted off. He flew so that the defenders would get weapons and medicine, and the wounded a chance to live. His service, from peacekeeping missions to the skies over Kyiv and Mariupol, shows that Ukrainian pilots put themselves at risk for those who cannot be left behind.
