site.btaTwo Bessarabian Bulgarians from Bolhrad District Killed in War

Two Bessarabian Bulgarians from Bolhrad District, Victor Dermendzhi from Izmail and Sergey Ilchev from the Artsyz Municipality, were killed on the front, according to announcements on the websites of the Izmail District State Administration and the Artsyz Municipal Council.

Senior Sergeant Victor Dermendzhi was born in Izmail, where he had served in the State Border Service before the war. At the front, he served as a machine gunner in a motorized infantry unit.

Sergey Ilchev, was born in the Bessarabian Bulgarian village of Glavan, volunteered for service at the front, where he was killed.

Bulgarians in the Odesa region number more than 150,000 and are the third largest population group in Ukraine, according to an official population census in 2001. There are between 50,000 and 60,000 Bulgarians in the city of Odesa. Bulgarians in the region are concentrated in the districts of Bolhrad, Izmail and Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi.