Friends Urge Public to Attend Funeral of Fallen Lone Soldier Michael Tyukin

Friends and former teammates of Staff Sgt. Michael Tyukin are asking the public to attend his funeral after he was killed Saturday night in a drone strike in southern Lebanon. They said the 21-year-old lone soldier, who immigrated from Ukraine with his mother in 2020 and lived in Ashkelon, has almost no family in Israel except his mother and grandfather, and that his unit is still in Lebanon and likely will not make it to the burial.

One teammate said, “Anyone who can attend the funeral will give him the honor he deserves.” Another, Netanel, described Tyukin as exceptional: “He was something you don’t see every day. A hard worker who never complained, and somehow always had a smile on his face.” He said Tyukin kept working even when things were difficult or he felt unwell, adding that his attitude made everything else seem small.

Tyukin served as a fighter in the Givati Commando Unit and was killed during fighting connected to the seizure of the Beaufort fortress north of the Litani River. Four other soldiers were lightly wounded in the incident and evacuated to Israel in stable condition. His death is the 13th Israeli military fatality since the ceasefire with Hezbollah was announced in April, and the army said most of those killed since then died in explosive fiber-optic drone attacks. It is the first time an IDF soldier has been killed in a nighttime explosive drone incident.

Ashkelon Mayor Tomer Glam said the city was mourning the loss of a resident who fell “defending the homeland” in southern Lebanon. Tyukin’s teacher, Masha Savag, said he was the only son of a single mother and that he had chosen a combat role despite the danger. She noted that just last Thursday he wrote in a group chat that he could not attend an alumni gathering because he was staying in Lebanon, turning an ordinary message into, in her words, devastating news of his death.