UAF serviceman and film director Ihor Malakhov, who had been considered missing since 2023, was killed in action, fellow director and screenwriter Volodymyr Tykhyi reported in a Facebook post, which was shared by the National Union of Cinematographers of Ukraine.

Ihor Malakhov was killed in combat near Stepove village (Donetsk oblast, close to Avdiivka) on December 29, 2023. His body has been identified by DNA, Volodymyr Tykhyi said.

As reported by ZN.ua, Ihor Malakhov was a graduate of the Dragomanov Pedagogical University and the National Institute of Cinematography of Russia.

He worked at the Dovzhenko Film Studio as the deputy director for young cinema in 1997–2000.

He would have turned 60 on April 26.

Before enlisting, he made all the video material on his Youtube channel free to access.

According to the Institute of Mass Information, Ihor Malakhov is the 129th media worker to die in the course of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.