AUGUST 25, 1980 — FEBRUARY 5, 2023
42 YEARS, TV CAMERAMAN
Pavlo, the father of three, had severe health issues. For this reasons he was not obliged to serve in the army according to the law. But when the full-scale invasion broke out, the media worker joined the ranks of those defending Ukraine.
Pavlo’s callsign was «Znakhar» [Healer]. He was helping his fellow servicemen with natural medicines. When in position, Pavlo would search out and brew herbs to treat those who felt sick. Pavlo was a foot soldier in the 118th Independent Brigade, 157th Territorial Defense Battalion of Cherkasy. In September 2022, their battalion was sent to Poltava, and later to the outskirts of Bakhmut. In February, Pavlo was defending Vuhledar. That’s where he fell. 420 km away from his hometown of Zolotonosha, where he was born.
The media worker studied in the Kaniv School of Culture. For the last 15 years, Pavlo had been working at the Cherkasy subdivision of «Inter» television channel. Prior to that, he had been working with television stations «Blik-TV», «VIKKA», «1+1». His colleagues say that Pavlo was always ready with a smile and a handshake when meeting people. To get an impactful camera shot, he would lay on the ground, get into the thick of it, crawl under a bell tower, and take a shot from 100 meters above.
This one time, Pavlo was filming a story about the opening of St. Michael’s Cathedral in Cherkasy. It was the highest orthodox cathedral in 2002. To get a view from the top, Pavlo and his colleague, reporter Viktor Borysov, got right up to the dome.
— I lost control over my legs, I’m out, I’m scared of heights. — said Viktor.
— I will do it. — Pavlo replied. On his trembling legs, he climbed out to the edge of the dome, took a few steps, pointed his camera down and filmed everything below, which seemed so extremely miniscule.
Pavlo used to box. He was kind and not very talkative but diligent, professional and polite. A man of action rather than words, according to his friends. He used to treat his colleagues with something nice once the filming was done, and rushed to his family after that — to his beloved wife and three kids, who now have no father.
