September 26, 2023
By Frank
Dear friends, Stas has finally been “laid to rest”. This happened last month, on the 8th of August. His mother, Lyudmila, and his widow, Lubov, travelled together to the Danish Faroe Islands via Norway to fulfill his last wish.
His ashes were given into the Bøsdalafoss waterfall, whose cold, clear waters carried him out into the North Atlantic Ocean. A brave man he was, and friendly and decent man. His warm smile is now a part of this world. Stas is accompanied by the bitter tears of his loving mother and loving widow, going with him on his final, eternal journey.
Farewell, Stas, you will be missed by many.
Слава Україні!
Героям слава!
Lyudmila thought it would be a nice gesture to publish this event on here, Ukraine Today. But, she wanted to wait until our meeting in Kyiv, which is why this dedication is a bit late.
The event was accompanied and recorded by the local television station KVF. Here is the link to the TV report:
https://kvf.fo/greinar/2023/08/08/video-ukrainian-soldier-rests-faroese-beauty-spot
Below is the English text from the Danish report:
Stas, 30, was killed in combat in Bakhmut right before Christmas. His final wish has now come true.
Stanislav Horbovtsov’s last journey took place on Sunday, down through Vágar’s Bøsdalafossur waterfall and out into the North Atlantic.
Stas, as his loved ones call him, was killed in a Russian attack in Bakhmut on 23 December.
His mother, Liudmila Horbovtsova, and his widow, Lubov Golubeva, arrived at Vágar Airport on Sunday carrying Stas’ ashes in an urn.
In 2017, Stas took a two-week trip to the Faroes. He visited all the islands and fell in love with the landscape.
Final wish granted
“Now that we have come here, we understand why he chose this spot as his final resting place,” says Liudmila.
“He has been dreaming of returning to this place, and now he has. The circumstances are of course devastating, but at least we have fulfilled his final wish.”
Liudmila and Lubov explain that Stas was like most other young men, but he was unusually charming, helpful and strong-willed.
“Stas was a good man. He had lots of good friends, and they all spoke very highly of him.”
Defending his country
After graduating in accountancy from one of the universities in Kyiv in 2010, he took a job as an economist.
The day after Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Stas volunteered for the Ukrainian army.
“This is horrible. It’s horrible to live like this. I will never be able to forgive those who did this,” says Liudmila.
“Stas defended us. He said he couldn’t live with the idea of Russians stealing our land. He was the most precious person in the world to us.”
A brave man
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy awarded Stas a bravery medal for having saved the lives of numerous Ukrainian soldiers.
“I’m happy that we have now fulfilled Stas’ final wish. This is where he wanted to be,” says Lubov.
Stas’ Place on the Wall of Remembrance
During my visit to Kyiv, I had the honor to be present as Stas’ mother, his widow and a number of his friends finally placed his photo on the Wall of Remembrance of the Fallen for Ukraine by the St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery in Kyiv.
Slava Ukraina, Heroyam Slava
Thanks, Sir Veth.
Thank you for bringing that tragic personal story to a wider audience Frankie Facts.
Am reminded of the world-renowned British astronomer Sir Patrick Moore. As a young officer in WW2 in the RAF, he fell in love and got engaged to a young nurse. She was killed when a nazi bomb struck her ambulance. He subsequently remarked that he never married because “there was no one else for me … second best is no good for me … I would have liked a wife and family, but it was not to be.” Sixty years after her death, he said : “if I saw the entire German nation sinking into the sea, I could be relied upon to help push it down.” In May 2012, Sir Patrick told the Radio Times magazine, “We must take care. There may be another war. The Germans will try again, given another chance.” He also said, in the same interview, that “the only good kraut is a dead Kraut”.
Substitute the word “Germans” with “Russians” and the word “kraut” with “putinaZi” and you have an exact parallel for today.
We did in fact subsequently learn to live with the Germans and their partners in crime the Japanese, because they were both occupied by the allies and learned how to become democracies.
The Russians on the other hand still have the same savage, evil mindset that they had when they became allies with nazi Germany in 1939.
Sorry for the pain of Stas’s loved ones. It will unfortunately remain with them until they are reunited in the next world.
RuZZia must be punished harshly for the next 100 years, or until they become civilized, whichever comes first.
time, at its own speed for each person, will erase the acute pain of loss and what will remain is the happy, peaceful memory of having known a loved, estimable, dear being. all gifts have different durations but a beautiful encounter remains a gift, an enrichment.
as mortals we can hope to inhabit the hearts of the people who loved us, and wish them to continue living, to hope to rebuild, while summoning us from time to time in suspended moments…
we must remember that someone ‘one who loves us wishes those who survive him to see them reborn from pain, to see them relive, continue and celebrate life… in the longer term to share us more with others…
May peace and recognition accompany you, valiant resistance fighter, and may your values, maintained by others, repel the darkness
Thank you for those words of wisdom, Mr. lorangebleue.
Thank you, Sir Scardge.
As usual, you’re so right. Yes, humanity has not learned from its past mistakes. We have a vicious, brutal, dirty fascism again, this time in russia, and its appeasers, just like it was so many decades ago.
Forever in our hearts and minds
Слава Україні!
Слава його героям!
вічна пам’ять
Thank you, Sir Cap.
Eternal Memory!!!🇺🇦
Heroyam Slava!!!🌟
Thank you, Sir Bill.
Dear Stas, though I didn’t know you, I feel as though I did. We will remember you and honor you while you watch over us and guide us. We will continue your fight until Ukraine can be free, no matter what it takes. Thank you, heroyam slava!
Thanks, Red, for your kind words.