Semen «Sam» Oblomei
Semen Oleksandrovych Oblomei was born on June 13, 2000, in Kyiv. On his mother’s side, he descended from a lineage of Ukrainian Cossacks. He grew up alongside his sister Anna, who was four years older. He was always open-hearted and exceptionally curious. Semen was always known for his openness and an insatiable curiosity about the world. Dissatisfied with the traditional format of high school, he sought alternative education, taking an interest in «business youth» projects. This drive led him to start selling paracord bracelets, which he hand-crafted using tutorials he found on YouTube.
In 2017, Semen joined the Ukrainian Leadership Academy. He constantly pushed the boundaries of his own physical capabilities and inspired his peers to take up sports and practice waste sorting. During educational trips to Israel and Austria, he visited an eco-farm, where he began to take an interest in ecology and eco-activism. He organized trainings (vyshkoly) and trips, researched and analyzed eco-settlements. He strived to create his own.
In 2019, he entered the Education and Research Institute of Forestry and Landscape-Park Management of the National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine. At the end of January 2022, he successfully finished a four-month course in forestry in Sweden. He was distinguished by hard work, responsibility, and a desire to help others. He strived to develop the profession of an arborist, since in Ukraine there were no profile educational programs, and the number of specialists from whom one could learn was limited. At the university, he was the vice-president of the university union of foresters, which is part of the International Union of Foresters. While serving in the military, he refused to close the academic session «automatically» because he wanted to do it by his own efforts, so he took an academic leave.
Driven by a desire to help the environment, he began working in the charitable foundation Peli can live. There, he became the manager of «Water for the Botanical Garden» — a project to build an irrigation system in the Rubtsov Arboretum, which occupies an area of 30 hectares in the M. M. Gryshko National Botanical Garden and had a risk of drying up due to the absence of irrigation for years. Even from the front lines, Semen continued to support the team by providing advice on suppliers and project efficiency.
He was fond of hiking. He studied the Japanese martial art of Bujinkan and mentored the youngest children. He worked in the Fomin Botanical Garden as an arborist, treating old trees. In Ukraine, this profession is rare and in demand. In 2020, he joined the Ukrainian Students for Freedom.
After February 24, 2022, Semen engaged in volunteer activities, prepared «Molotov cocktails», and tried to enlist in the Territorial Defense. Still, due to queues at the recruitment centers, he decided to go as a volunteer to the Svoboda Battalion. He had the callsign, Sem. He participated in the liberation of Bucha and Irpin, defended Izium, Rubizhne, Lysychansk, and Siverskodonetsk. He won the trust of the older military, motivated them with music, and push-ups. Semen was an assistant to the company commander «Artist» because he had powerful leadership qualities and initiated his own ideas. He was well-versed in military affairs despite the lack of experience and knew the terrain, which helped save many brothers-in-arms by evacuating them.
On June 21, 2022, he died from an enemy airstrike while defending Siverskodonetsk; before that, he led his group to a safe place. On June 28, 2022, he was cremated at the Baikove Cemetery in Kyiv. On the 9th day, his ashes were scattered on the Trakhtemyriv Peninsula over the Dnipro, where Semen wanted to live.
Semen is survived by his parents, sister, and wife, whom he married 12 days before his death.
Commemoration
On August 27, 2022, with the support of Peli can live, Semen’s father, Oleksandr, planted a Ginkgo biloba seedling in the M.M. Gryshko National Botanical Garden. Semen had grown the seedling himself, and his wife had preserved it. A memorial book with photos of Semen stands beside the tree.
On December 21, 2022, the family created the Semen Oblomei Scholarship Fund, which helps those who wish to receive professional arborist certification through online courses, provides opportunities to gain practical skills, and offers a scholarship for passing the international arborist certification. The Fund unites a community of teachers and professionals who care for the nature and trees of Ukraine. Everyone can support the pages on Facebook and Instagram.
On April 2, 2023, in the M. M. Gryshko Botanical Garden, on the initiative of USF, the opening of the “Alley of USF Heroes” and the planting of trees in memory of the organization’s activists fallen in the war, among whom was Semen, took place. The trees are marked with name plaques. A large number of friends and relatives of the fallen were present at the ceremony.