A student at the Faculty of Law of USPfrom Largo São Francisco, went to fight in Ukrainian War and disappeared. According to the young man’s mother, the Brazilian Embassy in Ukraine informed his family that he had been missing since a fight on April 4, but she learned from other sources that her son died at the front.
A person linked to the family and a college study group of which the young man was part published, this week, notes of condolence, speaking of his death.
Diplomatic sources confirmed to the Sheet that student Igor de Aguiar Amazonas, 23, is officially registered as missing. His family and colleagues gave no information about how he joined the conflict or how he traveled there.
The number of Brazilians killed in the conflict in Ukraine soared in 2025, according to Itamaraty. Until February of this year, 23 deaths were registered, with 44 missing. The numbers worry the Brazilian government, which reinforced warnings on social media about the risk of young people becoming involved in the conflict.
Dolores Amazonas, the student’s mother, told Sheet who received an email from the Brazilian Embassy in Ukraine on the 10th.
“According to them, this disappearance occurred on April 4th. However, from other sources, I received information that he passed away,” he stated. “From what was explained to us, as he was at the front, in an area that was difficult to access, the body could not be recovered. Therefore, the situation remains registered as missing,” said the mother.
According to her, the young man traveled on July 30th last year. I was in my second year at the most competitive law school in the country. On October 6, he celebrated his 23rd birthday in Ukraine.
“Igor was a young man driven by courage, generosity and a deep sense of justice. He could not be indifferent to anyone’s pain. If someone needed it, he helped with what he had, even if it was everything,” said his mother.
She recalls that, from an early age, he “also showed attitude and leadership.” At school, for example, he mobilized against the use of plastic cups, organized a petition and managed to change this reality. “To this day, students use their own bottles. He had unusual intelligence, he passed USP twice, without a course.”
She says that he studied administration at USP in Ribeirão Preto, became president of the academic center, but, in the third year, he dropped out of the course and took the entrance exam again, passing in law.
The family is from Santana do Parnaíba, in the metropolitan region of São Paulo.
In 2024, in the same year that he entered the Largo São Francisco college, he became a member of the Nexo Governmental 11 de Agosto, an extension group of the college, which studies the Three Powers. In May, he participated in a trip to Brasília with the group.
Liliane Castro dos Santos, president of the group, told Sheet that Igor was always very participative and happy, but that, in May of last year, he told his colleagues that he would fight in the Ukrainian War to “become better as a human being”.
According to her, he used to make contact with colleagues at USP and his family, but recently he had stopped giving news and did not respond to messages. “We thought he had stopped because of the tracking, out of fear,” he said.
She said that the study group should hold an event about the conflict and also address what happened to Igor.
The mother spoke of her pain, of Igor’s brothers and of the whole family. “As a mother, what I can say is that the world may call him a hero for his courage, but I call him a hero for his heart. The pain of absence is immense, but the love that unites us is eternal. I have faith that he is with God, and that is what sustains me.”
