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Semen Oblomei

“Sem”

13 June 2000, Kyiv — 21 June 2022, Sievierodonetsk, Luhansk Oblast
UAL Kyiv, 2017–2018

“I had an inner dialogue […] I hesitated because I had no real military experience.”

On February 25, Semen went to the Solomianske Territorial Defense unit. Afraid he wouldn’t make it—so many were volunteering—he queued for five hours, only to find the weapons were already gone. Friends told him about the Svoboda Territorial Defense unit—by February 28, Sem was there.
He did a lot of volunteer work in Kyiv, Brovary, Irpin, and the surrounding areas, and then the road led east. He found adventure and meaning in everything. It seems that this simple, open way of meeting life is what made Semen special.
“At first it was very much like a military-patriotic camp […] until we headed to Rubizhne.”
He took the war’s realities as they came, kept his comrades going, and hurried to return to his people.
“When I call home, I say I’m okay. And I am—I’m okay.”

“A packed June,” Sem joked in his last interview. His beloved’s birthday, a wedding, and his own birthday. June 21—his death. It’s impossible to fathom how so much joy and tragedy can fit into so little time.
Semen hoped to become a professional arborist, but never had the chance. His family and colleagues founded the Semen Oblomei Scholarship Fund to grow arboriculture in Ukraine and fulfill a hero’s dream—to heal trees. Follow the fund on Instagram for updates.
At the M.M. Hryshko National Botanical Garden in Kyiv, a young, rare Ginkgo biloba—which he had grown himself from seed—was planted in his memory. Another tree stands on Trakhtemyriv Island, where Sem dreamed of living; his ashes were scattered there.

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A volunteer initiative that supports defenders within the Ukrainian Leadership Academy community

moc.liamg%40mroftalpkytod

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