Biography

Member of the «Grey Wolves» group of the 29th Y. Starosolsky Scout Troop in Ternopil. Later, with his «Grey Wolves» group, he co-founded the new Ivan Gavdyda Preparatory Scout Troop, where he became an instructor. He was also a member of the MNC and participated in the first «Gurby-Antonivtsi» game in 2002.

In 2013–2014, he was an active participant in the Revolution of Dignity, in particular as a member of the 15th Maidan Self-Defense Unit. He rescued people and provided first aid during the mass shootings on February 20 on Instytutska Street in Kyiv.

In the spring of 2014, he volunteered for the Aidar Battalion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and fought in its ranks until July 2015.

With the start of a full-scale offensive on February 24, Salo rejoined the Armed Forces of Ukraine, defending Ukraine as part of the 1st Special Forces Brigade named after Ivan Bohun. He was killed on May 28, 2022, during a battle with Russian occupiers near Popasna, Donetsk region.

He was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine with the Order of the Golden Star, the Order of Courage III degree (2016), and the Iron Plast Cross during his funeral.

«Derekh was at the first game of Gurby-Antonivtsi. At that time, I was an observer from the Revolutionary Military Council in the Volyn Hundred, and Vitaliy was in the Ternopil Hundred, which consisted mainly of Plast members. He distinguished himself by mining the camp, and when the Volynians began their assault, he sat in a tent and detonated the charges one by one with an electric detonator. And when our guys were killed and they wanted to tear down the flag, he blew up the flagpole, grabbed the flag, and ran away. Thanks to this, the Ternopil team was able to continue the game and almost won on the last day,» recalls Mykola Bigus about Vitaliy Dereh.