Ihor Teryokhin, journalist, writer, and entrepreneur from Odesa, was killed in battle in the Kherson region on January 23, 2023.
“Rushing to go!
Gathering all the willpower you’ve got.
‘The subscriber cannot receive your call at the moment.’
Please, could you give me some form of a sign? Or not?”
This is an extract from the poem published by Ihor Teryokhin in May 2022.
Ihor Teryokhin was a witty, vigorous, and enthusiastic man. He could be met at different events in his hometown of Odesa and often gave lectures on beverages and cocktail culture. He was a famous sommelier in the city and had a dream of opening a wine bar of his own someday.
“Ihor was a man of unlimited kindness, charm, and sociability. He could find a common language with anyone he met. Yet he possessed unshakable life principles and his own unique philosophy,” Teryokhin’s wife Khrystyna says of him.
Ihor Teryokhin used to work as a correspondent with TV channels of the RIAC TRC and Hlas Media Group. After quitting journalism, he wrote poetry and essays and still did this even at the frontline.
Until Russia’s full-scale invasion, Teryokhin had never held a weapon in his entire life. This thought kept him up for the first nights of his military service. Yet Ihor proved a quick study within the ranks of the 126th brigade. He was a tranquil and observant serviceman. His friend in combat, call sign “Musician”, remembers:
“They sent us, as we were told, to meet the hostile tanks. “Honey Badger” (Ihor Teryokhin’s call sign – ed.) asked the squad commander if we were all going to die there, and the latter said that nothing could be ruled out. ‘Okay,’ “Honey Badger” sighed just as calmly and went to dig a trench. This is something I won’t be able to forget.”
While in the army, Ihor had also learned to be an “SMS father”, as he used to say. He had a little son. Teryokhin missed his family badly, yet he was, nevertheless, sure that he had stayed in the right place to be.
“Never in my life have I felt so confident. I’m staying where I must be at this moment. And never in my life have I had a wish so certain and clear. My wish is to put an end to the war,” Ihor wrote on his birthday.
Ihor Teryokhin was 36 years old. He had a wife and a son.
