The Museum welcomed Junior Sergeant Vladyslav Holub, a veteran of Ukraine’s War of Independence and commander of the unmanned systems maintenance and repair platoon of the 101st Brigade for the Protection of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine named after Colonel General Henadii Vorobiov. The meeting offered not only an insight into his combat path, but also a deeper understanding of the contemporary realities of technological confrontation.
The conversation addressed both his personal combat experience and the realities of contemporary technological warfare, where unmanned systems, engineering solutions, and the speed of decision-making often prove decisive.
In his opening remarks, Serhii Siryi, Head of the Museum’s Military History Research Sector, emphasised that today the battlefield is not only a system of trenches, but also a space of intellectual confrontation, where technical competence directly affects the preservation of human life.
Vladyslav’s brothers-in-arms came to support him, along with pupils from Kyiv School No. 27, where he once studied.
From March 2023 to September 2025, Vladyslav Holub served in the Donetsk Region, including in the areas of Toretsk, Pivnichne, Pivdenne, Druzhba, New York, and Chasiv Yar. A significant part of his combat path was connected with service in the 24th Separate Mechanised Brigade named after King Danylo, where, as a UAV crew commander, he carried out aerial reconnaissance and strike missions. He now heads a unit in the 101st Brigade responsible for the repair and maintenance of unmanned systems.
In recognition of his service, Vladyslav Holub has received an honorary award from the President of Ukraine “For the Defence of Ukraine” and the Honorary Breast Badge of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, “The Golden Cross”.
Reflecting on the most difficult aspects of war, he emphasised that even in a high-tech confrontation, human life remains the highest value: equipment can be restored, but a human life cannot.
At the end of the meeting, Vladyslav donated artifacts from his service to the Museum’s collection: sleeve insignia of the Unmanned Systems Battalion of the 101st Brigade, his personal identification tag, and a mock-up of a munition for heavy drones. The collection was also enriched with personal belongings of his brother-in-arms, Junior Sergeant Viktor Dmytryna, call sign “Cherkasy”, commander of a strike UAV systems section of the 24th Brigade, who was killed in June 2025.
The donated materials will enrich the Museum’s collection as evidence of the current war, its technological dimension, and the personal stories of those who have taken part in it.
