Serviceman, journalist Serhiy Yefremov goes missing in action in Luhansk oblast

Serhiy Yefremov, photo by Serhiy Yefremov on Facebook

Serhiy Yefremov, UAF serviceman and chief of news at Dilova Stolytsia, went missing in Luhansk oblast on the night of June 26–27, Dilova Stolytsia chief editor Olha Santarovich reports in a Facebook post.

According to her, Serhiy had texted her a few days prior: “I will return from the mission and ask them to let me go to Kyiv.”

“We have been preparing ourselves for bad news since 2014, when Serhiy volunteered for Aydar, we have been preparing since February 22, when he volunteered again for the big war. But we were never really prepared for bad news, because how can you be ready to lose a friend. So we keep hoping for a miracle,” Olha wrote.

Serhiy Yefremov, photo by Olha Santarovich on Facebook

The journalist announced a church service to pray for Serhiy.

“Serhiy did not believe in God, but we will commission a service for him and get together to talk about our blunt, sarcastic, sincere Frem in early August. I will share the details later. Heroes never vanish,” she noted.

Dilova Stolytsia website writes that Serhiy Yefremov was born and raised in the now occupied part of the Donbas (Horlivka city). His career in the news began in 2005. In 2014–2015, he defended the Donbas in the ranks of the Aydar battalion, later going back to civilian life and working in online media.

In a comment to IMI, Olha Santarovich said that Serhiy was officially declared missing on June 26.

“Serhiy started working as the chief of news at Dilova Stolytsia after the ATO. In the first days of the full-scale war, he went to fight again, was in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts,” said Olha.

Earlier, in January 2025, Chernivtsi journalist turned serviceman Zakhar Podkydyshev went missing while performing a combat mission around Kurakhiv, Donetsk oblast.