Yurii «Wrestler» Urshanskyi
Yurii Borysovych Urshanskyi was born on June 8, 2001, in the city of Konotop, Sumy region. He often joked about being both an Easterner and a Westerner, as he spent most of his life in Vynohradiv, Zakarpattia. Later, he moved to Lviv to study.
He graduated from Lviv Polytechnic National University with a degree in Computer Science. He worked as a programmer for a while, but soon grew tired of it; he intended to continue his education in economics and shift his career path.
Yurii studied piano — a fate he couldn’t escape, as both his mother and grandmother were music school teachers. However, he didn’t truly care for the piano; instead, he started teaching himself the guitar and would spend every weekend playing in the co-living kitchen.
He had a deep passion for history and constantly reminded those around him that we all need to know it better. Recently, he had taken up photography, capturing many of Lviv’s narrow streets. He was also learning Hebrew, driven by a desire to research his lineage; he was very proud of being Jewish.
In 2023, he joined the Ukrainian Students for Freedom. He was an active member of the Lviv branch, helping organize numerous events and developing the local community. Even while serving, he remotely organized «Jus Libertaris», a two-day forum in Lviv focused on judicial reform.
In 2025, he joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Having previously received military education, he did not wait for mobilization but voluntarily enlisted in the 128th Separate Mountain Assault Zakarpattia Brigade. He served as an artillery battery commander for his unit.
On August 26, near the village of Lukianivka in the Zaporizhzhia region, Yurii fought his final battle, giving his life in defense of Ukraine. He was posthumously promoted to the rank of Captain.
The news of Yurii’s death reached us during the Leadership Program — an event he had dearly hoped to organize. «Freedom is washed in blood, independence is washed in blood, and indifference is a crime that leads to this,» — these were Yurii’s words, which we enshrined this year in the USF Museum during the 2025 Leadership Program among the quotes of other USF Heroes. This final quote of his is one we have no right to forget.
During the initiation ceremony held at the Leadership Program for all new activists and organizers reaching a new level, Yurii was posthumously granted the title of USF Functionary.