January 16, 1959 in Manhattan in New York was born American millionaire MARKO PASLAVSKY – one of the most famous Heroes of the modern Russian-Ukrainian war, who gave his life for Ukraine and buried at Askold's grave in Kiev near the Heroes of Kruty. We know him as an American of Ukrainian descent who volunteered on the Maidan, and later, in 2014, volunteered to fight in the East of Ukraine, and died defending the land of his ancestors.However, his biography is much richer and more interesting. Few people know that Marko was the nephew of the founder and head of the Security Service of the OUN Mykola Lebedy. He himself made a brilliant career as a soldier – he graduated from the West Point Military Academy (1981), captain of the U.S. Army. After leaving the army, he worked as an investment banker in the United States. And in the late 1990s, he actually settled in Ukraine, from where his family hurriedly left in 1944. Here he helped to sell metal products of Mariupol plant abroad, worked in the banking sector, eventually founded in Kyiv region agricultural firm "Rosav-K" – one of the most profitable enterprises in the area. An American millionaire with a Ukrainian soul sincerely cheered for the country that became his native. So as hundreds of other patriots, he joined the Orange Revolution and the Revolution of Dignity. And with the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war in 2014, without thinking, Marko went to the front. Volunteer. He was a shooter of the 2nd special forces battalion of NGU "Donbass". As one of Franko's combat comrades recalled, after each fight he collected the so-called briefing. He said they had it in America. Fighters always listened carefully to Mark's advice. He didn't just disassemble the fight to the smallest detail – he analyzed it. Why did a soldier die in such a situation? Why failed the first time to liberate such a settlement? Everyone knew, up to how much it is necessary to take with them the horns of the assault rifle, so that it was enough, and it was not difficult to move.His military education and skills gained while serving in the U.S. Army were useful and could help Ukrainians in the struggle for their freedom for a long time. However, in the battle for Ilovaisk August 19, 2014 Marco was killed.Posthumously he was awarded the award "People's Hero of Ukraine". Actually, Marko Paslavskyy "Franko" was during the life of the people's hero of Ukraine and will remain it forever in our
memory.The text was prepared for Diaspora.ua on the basis of open sources on 16.01.2019, reprinting and use – subject to an active reference to Diaspora.ua
