Vitali Logvinchenko, 34: Fled Ukraine war, seeking safety in Israel

Vitali Logvinchenko, 34, of Ashkelon, was murdered by Hamas terrorists while out on a fishing trip on October 7.

Vitali set out that morning with his father-in-law, Oleg Lifshitz, to go fishing at a small reservoir near Kibbutz Ein Hashlosha, according to a state eulogy. When the rocket fire began, they quickly packed up and were planning on heading back to Ashkelon.

Along the way, their car was shot at by Hamas terrorists lying in wait along the highway, and they jumped out and tried to hide in the bushes. But a terrorist shot and killed them at close range, murdering them next to the Gama Junction just outside Kibbutz Re’im, according to Haaretz. Oleg’s body wasn’t found for a week, while Vitali was only located and identified after two weeks.

Vitali was buried in Ashdod. He is survived by his wife, Lilya, their son, Jaroslav, 5, his parents, Irena and Vladimir, and his sister Katya.

Born and raised in Ukraine, Vitali joined the police academy after graduating high school and worked in the field. In 2017 he and Lilya wed, after they had met long ago and reconnected two years before getting married. They settled in Kherson, Ukraine, and a year later, their son Jaroslav was born.

Both of his parents were deaf and Vitali had a close connection to that world, volunteering and helping within the community and making many friends with hearing loss.

Vitali set up a food stand in Kherson that became very popular and well-known in the city, his state eulogy read. In 2019, the family moved to Israel but returned to Ukraine not long after. When Russia was on the verge of invading Ukraine, Vitali returned to Israel and his wife and son followed not long after. Kherson became the site of heavy fighting during the ongoing war.

The family settled in Ashkelon, where Lilya’s parents also chose to live, and Vitali worked as a delivery driver for the Shufersal supermarket chain. Vitali loved to hang out at the beach and also to fish, which is what he was doing with his father-in-law the morning of the attack.

According to Haaretz, Lilya, who taught ballroom dancing, was at a competition in London for the weekend, while their son was camping with his aunt, Katya next to Ashkelon. Katya told Haaretz that Lilya had a hard time getting back to Israel immediately after the attack, with most flights canceled, and their son stayed with relatives while the hunt for his father continued for two weeks: “He really misses his father. But he doesn’t cry because he doesn’t understand.”

“Vitaly loved his extended family, would always spend time and celebrate holidays with them,” his eulogy reads. “He loved to cook and he would always invite and host and treat everyone with his cooking and tasty dishes. He always made sure there would be plenty on the table, and insisted that every holiday meal would end with a cake.”

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