Fallen Defenders of August 2021

novynarnia.com

This is a summary of the original article by Novynarnia.

This year Ukraine celebrated the 30th anniversary of its restored Independence. After all, our statehood has not fallen from the sky – it stands on the bones of the Heroes who sacrificed themselves in the centuries-old war for Ukraine, which still continues.

In the past month, the enemy (according to the official reports) fired at the positions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Donbas 182 times. The line of demarcation was crossed by Russian drones 17 times.

27 soldiers of the Joint Forces were wounded.

Most of the losses – from the Marinka raion near Donetsk.

Nine Ukrainian soldiers were killed in the fighting in August.

Yaroslav Semenyaka

Yaroslav Semenyaka

Yaroslav Semenyaka was born on October 1, 1989, in Kalynivka village, Sumy oblast.

Fellow villagers said that his family was very good and hardworking.

Yaroslav has signed a contract with the Armed Forces in June 2020. Junior sergeant, serviceman of the 58th separate motorized infantry brigade named after Hetman Ivan Vyhovsky.

His colleague Lyudmila Dontsova remembers Yaroslav as the most optimistic person in the world, who always came to the rescue.

On that day, on August 7, Yaroslav also helped people by working on a truck crane restoring damaged civilian infrastructure near Pisky village in the Donetsk oblast when Russian mercenaries aimed at a truck crane from an anti-tank missile system.

Yaroslav Semenyaka was buried in his native Sumy oblast in Pidlypne village.

He is survived by his wife and parents.

Oleksiy Kaidanovich “Cardan”

Oleksiy Kaidanovich “Cardan”

Oleksiy was an experienced thirty years old warrior. He took part in the battles for Ilovaisk in 2014 as a part of the 30th separate mechanized brigade. He served in the 54th separate reconnaissance battalion from 2017 and was a senior soldier.

He was born on January 9, 1991, in Fedorivka village, Novohrad-Volynskyi raion, Zhytomyr oblast. After serving his term he worked as a driver in Novohrad-Volynskyi.

The fighter’s godmother remembers Oleksiy as a very caring and hard-working man.

He died two weeks before the end of the rotation – at the end of the month his battalion and he had to return to Novohrad.

On August 10, Russian terrorist forces fired an anti-tank missile system at our military minibus near Marinka. Kaidanovych, who was behind the wheel, was seriously injured. Cardan died of his injuries in the hospital a few hours later.

Volunteer Margarita Samoilova remembers Oleksiy as a sincere man and a brave warrior who was an example of honor for every soldier in the battalion.

Oleksiy Kaidanovych was buried in his native Fedorivka village.

He is survived by his parents, brother and sister, wife, daughter, and 6-year-old son.

Artem Mazur

Artem Mazur

Only three months ago a 26-year-old fighter had his wedding with his beloved girlfriend. And late in the evening on August 16 he was hit by an enemy sniper during a combat duty at a platoon base near Novomykhailivka in the Donetsk oblast.

Artem was the deputy commander of the combat machine – gunner-operator of the 1st mechanized division of the 3rd mechanized battalion of the 28th named after the Knights of the Winter Campaign. He was a senior soldier.

Artem was born on March 28, 1995, in the Kirovohrad oblast and lived in Vesele village. After graduating from vocational school with a degree in an electric gas welder, Artem Mazur signed a contract for service in the Armed Forces in February 2017.

He was buried in his native Vesele village.

He is survived by his young wife, mother, and half-brother.

Vasyl Ostrovsky

Vasyl Ostrovsky

Vasyl Ostrovsky celebrated his 41st birthday recently. He was born on July 21, 1980 in Soroky-Lvivsky village. Vasyl lived in Lviv.

He was mobilized in 2014. He signed a contract for service in the Armed Forces after demobilization and then signed another. Vasyl served in the 24th separate mechanized brigade named after King Danylo from 2018. He was a senior soldier and the commander of the motorized infantry division.

The comrades tell that he was a wonderful friend, reliable, brave, decent, hard-working and qualified serviceman – a real warrior.

Vasyl was on combat duty near Novooleksandrivka village when an enemy sniper shot him. It happened early in the morning on August 19.

The soldier was buried in his native village.

He is survived by his parents, wife and young son.

Yuriy Mykhailov

Yuriy Mykhailov

Yuriy was only 21 years old. He was born on February 14, 2000 in Mykolaiv. He grew up an orphan – the boy was raised by his grandmother. He was always serious, determined, played sports and dreamed of a military career.

Yura realized his dream: he graduated from the National Academy of Land Forces named after Hetman Petro Sahaidachny. He got a diploma and an officer’s shoulder strap this year – and in fact immediately went to the front. He became the commander of the platoon of the 28th separate mechanized brigade named after the Knights of the Winter Campaign.

Deputy Company Commander of the 28th Brigade Oleg Shturypita remembers Yuriy as a responsible and determined man, who was ready to fight from the first day.

The young lieutenant died on August 22 having received a fatal bullet wound during the shelling of the position of the Armed Forces near Marinka in Donetsk oblast.

The young man was buried on the Alley of Glory of a cemetery in Mykolaiv.

He is survived by his grandmother.

Oleksandr Aksyonov

Oleksandr Aksyonov

Oleksandr Aksyonov was born on September 22, 1982, in Boryspil, Kyiv oblast.

He has been in the war since 2018. Oleksandr was a junior sergeant, commander of the sniper division of the fire support platoon of the fire support company of the 131st separate reconnaissance battalion.

He was assigned to the 28th separate mechanized brigade, which restrains the enemy in the area of ​​Marinka in Donetsk oblast (operator of the 1st division of radio reconnaissance of the reconnaissance company).

Oleksandr`s commander who was with him in his last battle remembers the soldier as a reliable comrade and a great warrior who never failed.

A bullet fired by an enemy sniper killed Oleksandr on August 23.

The soldier was buried in the Alley of Heroes of Rohoziv Cemetery in Boryspil.

He is survived by his mother.

Vyacheslav Pitko

Vyacheslav Pitko

Vyacheslav Pitko from Kamyanske town in the Dnipropetrovsk oblast was born on December 22, 1972. He worked at the Dniproazot enterprise and was an experienced soldier.

He has been in the war since 2014. He signed another contract in July 2019. Senior sergeant, commander of the 74th separate reconnaissance battalion.

His friends and colleagues remember Vyacheslav as a kind, sensitive and cheerful person who cared about his comrades and was always ready to help.

After the victory, he dreamed of farming, planned to build a greenhouse and grow vegetables.

But war really takes away the best. Around 7 pm on August 24, the occupiers near Donetsk fired the machine guns at the positions of the Armed Forces injuring two of our soldiers. The wounds turned out to be incompatible with life for Vyacheslav: the bullet pierced the body armor from the side, pierced the internal organs and went through.

But even at that moment Palych did not think about himself and called on his comrades to fight. He died during the evacuation – severe blood loss and severe liver damage left no chance of survival.

Vyacheslav Pitko was buried on the Walk of Fame of the military cemetery in Kamyanske.

He is survived by his mother, brother, wife and 11-year-old daughter.

Andriy Vyskrebets

Andriy Vyskrebets

Andriy Vyskrebets was born on April 28, 1982, in Zaporizhzhia. He graduated from a local construction college and worked in his specialty until the Russian aggression had started.

In March 2015 he was mobilized. Then Andriy got into the 26th artillery brigade with which he carried out combat missions on the front line (in particular near Pisky). After the end of the mobilization period, he decided to stay in the army and signed a three-year contract for service in the Armed Forces. Having won three years as a member of the 55th Zaporizhzhia Sich Artillery Brigade (senior gunner) Andriy extended his contract with the 74th Separate Reconnaissance Battalion. He was a senior soldier, operator of the anti-tank platoon of fire support.

His comrades say that he loved and valued his family very much, was a positive person and an honest innate warrior who never had any remarks.

On August 27 a senior soldier Vyskrebets was performing a combat mission near Slavne village in Donetsk oblast when he was “caught” by an enemy sniper with a shot to the head. It happened at the same position where Vyacheslav Pitko had been killed a few days earlier.

The soldier was buried in Zaporizhzhia. He is survived by his wife, two children, and a sister.

Roman Zadorozhny

Roman Zadorozhny

Roman Zadorozhny was 27 years old. He was born on June 9, 1994 in Dobrotvir village, Lviv oblast.

He went to the forefront of the Russian-Ukrainian war from its first days. Senior soldier, deputy commander of the combat vehicle of the 24th separate mechanized brigade of the King Danylo Armed Forces.

His comrades tell that Roman was an ardent patriot of Ukraine, a very brave, responsible, decent, hard-working and qualified serviceman, who constantly showed reasonable initiative and who could always be relied on.

On August 30, when senior soldier Zadorozhny was on combat duty near Novozvanivka village in Luhansk oblast militants fired the hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers and machine guns of various calibers at the positions of the Armed Forces. Dry grass caught fire because of the shelling. Roman and his comrades tried to stop it from spreading when an anti-tank missile explosion covered him.

During the evacuation, the fighter died from his injuries.

He is survived by his mother, a beloved girl and a son.

It will also be recalled that on August 29, the Day of Remembrance of the Fallen Defenders of Ukraine, the lieutenant colonel-special forces and Hero of Ukraine Oleksandr Petrakivsky died after being severely wounded in the head in July 2014.

Eternal memory to the fallen.