Frenchman
Viktor "Frenchman" Pylypenko: A graduate of Kyiv Polytechnic Institute of Ukraine who had prior service in the UAF, Viktor was working in Dubai when the violence of the Euromaidan Revolution unraveled in the news. Seeing the revolution as a breaking point for his country, he returned home and became an active participant until the end. As the war in the Donbas began, he was called to the conscription office where he was told to wait until he was called with orders to deploy. After the Ilovaisk tragedy, he decided he could no longer wait and joined the Donbas Volunteer Battalion where he defended eastern cities such as Shryokina from the Russian insurgency until 2016. Today, Viktor works with an NGO that he created supporting Ukraine’s LBGT military, volunteer soldier and veteran community.