Vice-president of Ukraine’s Chess Federation killed at the front

Source: Ukrainian Chess Federation

Artem Sachuk, the vice-president of the Chess Federation of Ukraine, died at the front during the Russian-Ukrainian war. He was in the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces from the first days of the full-scale Russian invasion.

‘Ukrainian volunteer soldier Artem Sachuk died in the war of liberation against the Russian occupiers – a well-known chess figure, vice-president of the Chess Federation of Ukraine, organizer of many Ukrainian and international competitions’, the statement says.

Artem Sachuk, a native of Zhytomyr, worked as a project manager in the reform office of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine until February 24, 2022. He also had his own business and previously headed the Regional Development Agency of Zhytomyr Region.

During the war, he held different positions in the Ukrainian army. On April 7, 2023, he received the medal ‘For military service to Ukraine’ for personal courage shown in the defense of the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, selfless performance of military duty.

In 2025, the deadliest year yet for civilians, Ukraine’s three largest charitable foundations raised a record 105.9 billion hryvnias. It is more than the years 2022–2024 combined. According to the UN, humanitarian aid in Ukraine was delivered by more than 450 organisations, reaching five million people over the course of the year. Civic foundations hold licences to purchase lethal weapons, which is a function states have monopolised for centuries. These record sums were underwritten by international government grants, which means foreign states now channel billions directly through Ukrainian civic funds, bypassing inter-state channels. It is hard to imagine a stronger institutional trust in civil society.

During the GLOBSEC Defence Forum 2026 in Prague, representatives of “Steel Front”, an initiative by Rinat Akhmetov, discussed with NATO delegations, military officials, and representatives of the European defense industry the lessons learned from Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.

After the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Ukraine witnessed an unprecedented wave of private support for the army. Citizens, big businesses, charitable foundations, and international philanthropists began financing the country’s defense alongside state assistance provided by international partners. Estimates of total private contributions range from tens to hundreds of billions of hryvnias. However, determining the exact amount remains difficult. In many cases, companies combine military aid, humanitarian programs, tax payments, social spending, and employee support in their reporting.

Rinat Akhmetov’s military initiative, “Steel Front”, has delivered a batch of drones worth UAH 214 million to the 1st “Azov” Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine. This shipment is part of the Metinvest Group’s ongoing support for the unit in 2025.

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