Today, January 20, 2026, Vladyslav Kyrychenko passed away
Today, January 20, 2026, Vladyslav Kyrychenko passed away — founder of the Nash Format brand, visionary, entrepreneur, scientist, Ukrainian Armed Forces servicemember, civic leader, and philanthropist. The cause of death was a serious oncological illness. He was 57 years old.
Vladyslav Kyrychenko (born 1968) was one of those rare people who shaped the intellectual and civic landscape of modern Ukraine. A biologist by training, he combined an entrepreneurial mindset with a deep belief in the power of education, culture, and responsible citizenship. He is survived by his wife and four children.
Nash Format and the Community of Ukrainian Reformation
In 2005, Vladyslav Kyrychenko founded the arts agency and brand Nash Format, which grew into a large cultural and educational ecosystem — a publishing house, a bookstore, an online shop, a mobile app, and other digital services, as well as Ukraine's first cooperative forge Kuznya Unizh, which Vladyslav envisioned as a City of Sun and purposeful living. During the Revolution of Dignity in 2014, the Nash Format bookstore (Ally Horskoi Lane, 5 in Kyiv) became an improvised operating room where more than 170 surgeries were performed on wounded Maidan participants. Through Vladyslav Kyrychenko's vision and strategic leadership, the publishing house he founded became Ukraine's leading nonfiction publisher, a market leader in business, economics, society, politics, and popular science. To date, Nash Format has published nearly 700 titles of both international and Ukrainian bestsellers in the Ukrainian language.
Vladyslav also founded the Community of Ukrainian Reformation (NGO Reformatsia), whose mission is to build a capable Ukrainian society and a strong state. In partnership with Nash Format and other organizations, the programs Statutes and Manuals for the Armed Forces of Ukraine and The Army Reads were implemented, distributing more than 150,000 books free of charge to military personnel and military medics. With active support from NGO Reformatsia, the website tccc.org.ua was created — a resource dedicated to Tactical Combat Casualty Care that became the primary reference for the majority of medics in the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Military service, Maidan, and other activities
During the Revolution of Dignity, Vladyslav Kyrychenko was one of the Maidan sotnyks.
Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Vladyslav Kyrychenko volunteered to serve in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. For his service, he was awarded the Steel Cross — a distinction of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
He founded the Unizh forge in the village of Unizh, Ivano-Frankivsk region — a hub for volunteer and youth activities, and a space for festivals, educational, scientific, and sports-patriotic camps.
A central focus of his work was investing in human potential and the development of the next generation. Vladyslav initiated and organized a series of scientific camps and educational programs where future scientists received their training.
As a scientist, he initiated the creation of the Ukrainian Science Club — a community of Ukrainian scholars of international standing.
Vladyslav Kyrychenko was the founder and organizer of the KyivBookFest book festival (from 2023), and financially supported a number of landmark Ukrainian cultural events, including Unizh — Festival of the Ukrainian Format, Sheshory, Art-Pole, Mazepa-Fest, and the celebration of the 65th anniversary of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army in Kyiv.
Vladyslav Kyrychenko was among the first philanthropists to systematically support contemporary Ukrainian culture. On his initiative, the first audiobooks in the Ukrainian language were created; he funded the debut album recordings of young Ukrainian bands and helped bring them into radio rotation. The Nash Format bookstore became the first in Kyiv to specialize exclusively in Ukrainian-language literature and patriotic merchandise, establishing a new cultural norm long before it became mainstream.
Vladyslav devoted years to developing Ukrainian biotechnology through the company Replikon, aiming to bring it to an international level. He developed integrated laboratory systems and launched Ukraine's first production of high-quality laboratory plastics, laying the foundation for a modern scientific infrastructure.
In the final years of his life, including during his illness, Vladyslav focused on creating innovative engineering solutions that brought together specialized laboratory plastics, equipment, and workflow organization into a single coherent technological system. This work will serve as a practical alternative to full automation and will give laboratories access to reproducible, world-class technologies.