With great-grandpa in the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and a Ukrainian Insurgent Army liaison officer grandma, this 44th Brigade fighter, callsign Horvath, comes from a long line of Ukrainian defenders 

The 44th Hetman Danylo Apostol separate artillery brigade shared the story on Facebook, reports Espreso.West.

Croatian who came to defend Ukraine from Portugal. That's what they call him in the brigade.

They say that Horvath is just his military call sign. He was born into a family of native Lemks, distant descendants of the White Croat tribe. Hero's patriotism was passed down through the generations. His great-grandfather was the deputy head of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists in Lemkiv region, and his grandmother was a Ukrainian Insurgent Army liaison.

In the first years of independence, Oleg served in the National Guard. During the Revolution of Dignity, he was an active participant, guarding the barricades of Instytutska. In 2014, at the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian war, he formed the Zbruch battalion. In 2015, he was in the frontline behind Mariupol.

Photo: 44th Hetman Danylo Apostol separate artillery brigade 

Along with Horvath, the flag of the ethnographic society Lemkivshchyna passed the entire battle route.

"Once, before the war, my daughter gave it to me. After demobilization, we brought it to the festival together with other soldiers of the ATO - Lemkas by origin. I personally handed the flag to the head of the All-Ukrainian society Lemkivshchyna Oleksandr Vengrynovich on the main stage of the festival, as a symbol of fighting spirit for Lemky," the fighter said.

Reference. The 44th Hetman Danylo Apostol detached artillery brigade is a military unit within the artillery forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. The place of deployment is the city of Ternopil. The brigade belongs to the Operational Command West.

It was formed after the beginning of Russian aggression in the fall of 2014. Waged battles on Bakhmut, Debaltseve.

The brigade is named after Hetman Danylo Apostol - Hetman of the Zaporizhzhia Army, the head of the Hetmanship on the Left Bank of Ukraine in the 18th century.