Farewell held in Kyiv for UNA-UNSO co-founder Mykola Karpyuk, who was killed at front. PHOTOS
On Friday, September 25, a farewell ceremony was held in Kyiv for Mykola Karpyuk, a civic and political activist, co-founder of UNA-UNSO, and former Kremlin political prisoner. He was killed at the front on September 19 at the age of 62.
Suspilne reported this, Censor.NET informs.
His friends, fellow soldiers, former political prisoners and classmates attended the farewell ceremony.
Journalist Nataliia Chanhulia, who had known Karpyuk for many years, said the UNA-UNSO co-founder was killed in combat in the Zaporizhzhia sector alongside two soldiers from his group. She said that despite his age and the wars, imprisonment, and Russian captivity he had endured, he wanted to return to the front.
"He was in a fighting spirit. All he wanted was to fight. He lived like a Viking and died like a Viking," she said.
Karpyuk’s classmate Anatolii travelled from their home village of Velykyi Zhytyn in Rivne Oblast to pay his last respects. They last spoke by phone in July. According to Anatolii, Karpyuk had planned to come to the village so they could tend his grandfather’s grave together, but he did not get the chance.
Roman Sushchenko, a journalist and former Kremlin political prisoner, was also among those who came to say goodbye. He and Karpyuk met in 2019 after their release from Russian imprisonment.
"We first met on the way back, when we were taken to Ukraine. We were surrounded by FSB officers there, but managed to exchange a few words," Sushchenko recalled.
After their release, Sushchenko and other former political prisoners kept in touch with Karpyuk. They have now launched a petition to award him the title of Hero of Ukraine posthumously. The petition has been published on the President’s website.
What is known about Mykola Karpyuk?
Mykola Karpyuk was born on May 21, 1964, in the village of Velykyi Zhytyn in Rivne Oblast. He was a trained lathe operator. After Ukraine declared independence, he devoted himself to political and civic activity, heading the Rivne branch of UNA-UNSO.
- In 2000–2001, Karpyuk took part in the "Ukraine without Kuchma" protests. He was sentenced to 4.5 years in prison for participating in the protests.
- In March 2014, Russian security services abducted him at the border in Chernihiv Oblast. A court in Russia, the aggressor state, sentenced him to 22.5 years in prison on fabricated charges that he had allegedly taken part in fighting in Chechnya from 1994 to 2001.
- Karpyuk spent five years in a Russian prison, returning home in September 2019 in a prisoner exchange.
After returning to Ukraine, Karpyuk continued his civic activity and later joined the military to defend the country.
He was killed at the front in the Zaporizhzhia sector on September 19, 2026. He was 62.
