Vasil Uladzimiravič Bykaŭ (often spelled Vasil Bykov, Belarusian: Васі́ль Уладзі́міравіч Бы́каў, Russian: Василь Влади́мирович Быков) (19 June 1924 – 22 June 2003) was a prolific Soviet and Belarusian author of novels and novellas about World War II and a significant figure in Soviet and Belarusian literature and civic thought.