Every day at 9 am, Ukrainians commemorate the people who lost their lives in the Russia-Ukraine war. Today Sport.ua pays tribute to the outstanding Ukrainian basketball player of two EuroBaskets participants, Viktor Kobzisty, who was killed exactly two years ago, on December 29, 2023, supposedly by a Russian missile deep in the lines in Lviv. The man will remain 44 years old forever.

The legend of “Budivelnik”

Viktor Kobzisty was born on March 7, 1979 in Kremenchug, Poltava region. As a child, Victor played hockey and football. I quit football before because I was too high for this game. Later, Kobzisty quit hockey and focused on basketball. Victor, who studied at Kremenchug children’s and youth school No. 2, was considered one of the most talented players of his age in Ukraine.

After graduating from nine secondary school classes, Kobzisty entered the Kremenchug Pedagogical School named after Makarenko and in 1995, at the age of 16, he became a player of Kremenchug Neftekhim, where he made his debut in professional competitions. In 1996, Victor moved to Russian Samara, where he played only in the second team. Due to the fact that the club management rejected the offer to accept Russian citizenship.

In 1999, Kobzisty returned to Ukraine and signed a contract with CSKA Kiev, with which he became the silver medalist of the championship and the winner of the national cup in his first season. The army team finished the next championship in third place, after which Kobzisty moved to the ranks of Mariupol Azovmash.

In 2001, Victor tried playing abroad again – he went to Bulgaria, where he spent a season as a member of Yambolgazy. In the same year, Kobzisty played in the EuroBasket final as part of the Ukrainian national team.

Victor returned to Ukraine in 2002 and immediately became the leader of the Kyiv Budivelnik in the broadest sense. The legendary club was going through difficult times at that time, but the young people gathered in the team led by Kobzisty showed incredible thirst and attracted the attention of the fans with their fighting character. Victor spent four brilliant seasons with the Kyiv team.

And although “Budivelnik” was not among the leaders at that time, Kobzisty regularly received calls from the Ukrainian national teams. In particular, he played with the national team in the second EuroBasket of his career in 2005 and with the student team in two World Universiades. In 2005, Ukrainians won the silver medal, for which Kobzisty received the title of international master of sports. In 2006, Victor moved to Dnepr, but in 2008 he returned to Budivelnik and with him became the champion of Ukraine for the first time in 2011, after which he ended his playing career.

Coaching activities

Completing his performances, Kobzisty became assistant head coach of Budivelnik in 2011 and worked as an assistant to Josep Berrocal, Zvezdan Mitrovic and Ainars Bagatskis until 2014. Later, Victor took over as head of Dnepr-Azot from Kamensky, with whom he worked for a year.

In 2015, Kobzisty became president of Kremen from his hometown Kremenchug, and in 2017-2018 he played several matches for the club’s second team in the first division. He held this position until 2020 and also served as president of the club’s children and youth sports school.

In 2021, Victor was invited to work at the Lviv City Basketball Federation, and from 2023 he worked as the head coach of the women’s club Dynamo from Kiev, which plays in the Ukrainian Super League.

Death

Viktor Kobzisty also came to Lviv at the end of 2023 on basketball-related matters. He rented an apartment on Gnat Khotkevich Street in the Sykhov residential area. And it was this house that was hit by a Russian missile on December 29. One person died then. Victor Kobzisty.

Victor was buried in his hometown of Kremenchug on January 2, 2024. The funeral took place in St. Nicholas Cathedral, and the basketball player found eternal peace at the Svishtovsky cemetery.

Family

Victor and his wife raised two children. One of the sons, Alexander, now 22, followed in his father’s footsteps and is now also a basketball player. He played on Ukraine’s youth and junior national teams, made his national team debut, and currently plays for the University of Oregon team in the NCAA.