“Dar Bozhiy” has been killed in the war in Ukraine
A Russian serviceman who had officially changed his name to Dar Bozhiy (“God’s Gift”) has been killed in the war against Ukraine.
According to Russian media reports, the 51-year-old man was a resident of Irkutsk region. He held the rank of private and, according to available information, was killed on 4 July 2025.
Before joining the war, he lived in Cheremkhovo, about 75 kilometres from Irkutsk, where he worked as a shoemaker. He opened a workshop that provided free shoe repairs for low-income and homeless people. In autumn 2023, he closed the charitable business and voluntarily went to the front.
During his medical examination, he was declared fit for service despite using a hearing aid, and a psychiatric evaluation reportedly identified signs of an organic personality disorder. He had previously spoken publicly about his health problems.
In 2009, he survived an armed incident in Irkutsk, sustaining a gunshot wound during a shooting. A year after being deployed to the war, he said he had been wounded again. He did not disclose details of the injury but noted that doctors had recommended prolonged treatment.
Dar Bozhiy was not his birth name. In 2015, after being released from prison, he officially changed his passport details. He was born Mykola Pykhtin. According to Russian media, he spent more than 11 years in a penal colony — first for murder committed as part of an organised group, and later for robbery.
Earlier reports also noted that the son of a suspect in the murder of Andriy Parubiy had been killed at the front.
In a separate case, 24-year-old drone operator Liliia Hekendorf from Kirovohrad region was killed in action.
More than 680 children have been killed in Ukraine as a result of Russia’s full-scale aggression.
It was also reported that in 2025 the number of civilian casualties in Ukraine increased by 26%.
