Mykola Pupii was killed on March 6, 2022, in Mariupol. He was returning home from a shop when a shell struck and destroyed the apartment building where he lived.
Mykola was 87 years old. He was born in the village of Ladynka in the Chernihiv region. As a child, he survived World War II. His relatives liked to recall how, upon seeing a German airplane, he would hide his cap, worried that the Germans might think he was a soldier and kill him.
Mykola lost his mother at an early age. After his father remarried, he went to live with his aunt Tetiana.
In his youth, he dreamed of becoming a pilot and even graduated from a flight school. However, during his final medical examination, it was discovered that his eyesight did not meet the required standards.
He later moved to Kharkiv, where he graduated from the Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University.
Mykola was assigned to work in Mariupol. There, he worked for many years as a prosecutor. He married, and a daughter was born into the family.
In his later years, he lived alone. His first wife and their daughter passed away. Later, he also lost his second wife.
He kept in touch with his niece and with the family of his second wife’s daughter.
Mykola is remembered as cheerful and sociable. He loved singing and dancing.
Even after retirement, he continued working as a lawyer at a state bank and finally left his job at the age of 78.
“We spoke with my uncle by phone on the first day of the invasion. He said he was going to get some bread. After that, I couldn’t reach him. Only in the summer did I learn what had happened. Andriiovych was killed and buried near the entrance of the building. There was no opportunity to give him a proper burial due to constant shelling. What has happened to that grave now is unknown,” shared Vira Pashko, his niece.
“Work was always his top priority. Then fishing. He had so much equipment: fishing rods, spinning rods, bait… My uncle was a kind man. He missed his native places. A very sensitive and good person who endured many losses. He grew up during a war. And war took his life,” Vira added.
Mykola Pupii is survived only by his niece among his close relatives.
At 9:00 a.m. — a nationwide minute of silence. The Donetsk Regional Military Administration and the Memorial platform: killed by Russia — remember the residents of Donetsk region killed by Russians.