Rescuer killed, five more injured in renewed Russian shelling in Kharkiv region

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23.10.2025 08:34

Ukrinform

In the Kharkiv region, a rescuer was killed and five of his colleagues were injured during a renewed Russian attack while performing a combat mission.

Ukraine's State Emergency Service reported this on Telegram, according to Ukrinform.

"Overnight on October 23, while carrying out a combat mission in the Kupiansk district, a true Hero – Yurii Chystikov, commander of a unit of the 43rd State Fire and Rescue Station of the 4th State Rescue Detachment of the SES Main Department in the Kharkiv region – was killed. Chief master sergeant of the civil protection service, born in 1975. Yurii is survived by his daughter," the statement said.

While extinguishing a fire caused by a Russian drone strike in the village of Zelenyi Hai, Velykyi Burluk community, Kupiansk district, Russian forces launched a second attack on the site where rescuers were working. The strike killed one rescuer and injured five others.

"Yurii Chystikov was an example of dedication to duty – a man for whom saving others mattered more than his own life," the SES added.

Photo credit: Ukraine's State Emergency Service / Telegram