Many of today’s defenders of Ukraine were still kids when the Russian-Ukrainian war began in 2014. They are highly motivated soldiers who, in other circumstances, might have had civilian occupations and very different destinies. Reflecting on this, it’s hard not to imagine a peaceful Ukraine, where thousands of these wonderful young citizens are alive and well, have started families, opened businesses and are enjoying life. War is a devourer of dreams and hopes. It can take away a person, but it cannot take away the memory of them. Today, our story is about Mykola Polozun from the Chernihiv region, who paid the highest price for our peace.
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Junior Sergeant Mykola Polozun from the Chernihiv region dreamed of being a marine. The 23-year-old defender died on May 24, 2024. His young life was cut short by an enemy shell in the middle of hell, near Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region. And how happy everything could have been! A beloved wife, a daughter whom he adored, a house by the sea in Odesa… The enemy destroyed all his plans and intentions, mercilessly reshaped the fate of a brave boy and his family and continues his shameful dirty work.
Please write about my grandson…
78-year-old Kateryna Nevzhynska from a small village of Petrova Sloboda in the Chernihiv region called the editorial office of the local newspaper Mayak.
“Please write about my grandson Kolya, who died in the war this May,” she began the conversation. “He was a very good guy, friends with everyone, calm, always calming others. He went to serve immediately after school. That’s how he got to Odesa, and later he persuaded his parents to move there. I couldn’t attend the funeral. I can’t tell you how sorry I feel for my grandson… I want his memory to remain in the hearts of our compatriots, so that they know about our irreparable loss.
Kateryna Mykolayivna said that when the full-scale Russian-Ukrainian war broke out, her grandson Mykola and his father went to fight without hesitation. In the last few years, he visited his grandmother only twice: once with his future wife Natalia, and then on his way to the military commissariat. His grandma has been living alone for 17 years, a widow. Her life wasn’t easy; she worked hard on a farm as a milkmaid. She and her husband, who once came to her village from Donbas, gave birth to and raised seven children, two of whom, unfortunately, have already passed away. The elderly woman is not rich, but she has her treasure – eleven grandchildren! But then trouble came: an insidious enemy took away one of them – Mykola…
A guy with a backbone
Mykola Polozun lived with his parents in Petrova Sloboda. When he finished school, he didn’t want to study further and signed a contract for military service. He was only 18 then, and the war was already going on in Donbas. Mykola’s Aunt Iryna Tsykh, who lives in Novomoskovsk, Dnipropetrovsk region, shares her memories of her nephew. It is very noisy there now; the enemy is constantly shelling these territories. On the day we spoke to her, the woman said she had barely survived the night – the Russian occupiers fired ballistics at them.
“Our Kolya was a guy with a backbone from his childhood,” Iryna says. “He did what he said. As soon as he turned eighteen, he signed a contract and went to serve. Studied in Honcharivsk, joined the marines. That’s how he ended up in Odesa. Served in the city near the sea, and twice went to ATO. He was even shown on TV, in a story on the 1+1 TV channel. The journalists kept asking him if it was hard on the front line. And he said, smiling, that it was possible to live there…
When Mykola Polozun married Natalia from Odesa in 2020, the young wife was able to persuade her husband to leave the service. But fate cannot be bypassed or avoided. The full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine caught him in Odesa. His little daughter Amalia was only a year old then. He and his beloved wife were looking for a house, wanted to live and work. He absolutely adored his little girl. That’s probably why, without hesitation, he and his father went to defend the Motherland and their family from the enemy. They both enlisted in the local territorial defense.
“Kolya had had a serious injury since the anti-terrorist operation, so he could have avoided going to service,” his aunt recalls, “but he told everyone firmly: ‘We must stop this voracious horde!’ At that time, territorial defense units lacked experienced military personnel, so both Kolya and his father, 52-year-old Oleksiy Anatoliyovych, were appointed squad leaders. Mykola and his unit were in the Kherson region for a long time. It was not easy there either. They went on missions to the other side of the river, where the occupiers were stationed. Once, they spent twenty days without water and food in the basement until their comrades pulled them out of the trap. Later, their unit was transferred to Chasiv Yar. Before going to the Donetsk region, he and Natasha got married. They both believed that everything would be fine, that he would return with victory and they would live happily ever after. They had no bad thoughts. Only little Amalia felt something. Before her father left, she lay down on his chest, hugged him, sucked her pacifier, and big tears rolled down her eyes. We even took a photo then, but we won’t share it – it’s too painful.
How can we tell his father?
At her nephew’s funeral, Iryna talked a lot with his comrades-in-arms. She wanted to know more about him: his service, thoughts, and his last battle.
“The boys told us,” says Iryna, “that he and his father had served in different units, but not far from each other. On one of their missions, Mykola and his subordinates came under heavy fire. Many of them were killed in that battle. Kolya received a life-threatening injury. A young soldier, who was with him at that moment, did everything possible and impossible to save him. He provided help very competently, even the doctors were surprised afterwards. The fire did not stop, so there was no way to take the bodies of the dead and save the living. How could they tell his father that Kolya was there, but there was no way to help or take the body out?! They could barely hold him back, he was so eager to get to his son despite the danger. About three days later, the guys, risking their lives, pulled the deceased from the battlefield. They loved and respected Kolya very much as a commander and a person. He was demanding but very caring, kind, understanding. He didn’t drink alcohol and didn’t even smoke. For the soldiers, he was a true role model. Therefore, it was a matter of honor for the guys to bury their commander with dignity.
They paid their last respects to Mykola Polozun in Odesa on May 29. He always dreamed of being transferred from the territorial defense back to the marines. The only thing that stopped him was that he could not leave his boys, until the last he was a true commander – responsible and loyal. But at heart he remained a marine – a universal soldier who can do anything. But he couldn’t avoid fate. He was awarded a commemorative badge for his courage in the battles near Krynky. The award for Chasiv Yar is still being prepared.
Unfortunately, there are thousands of such stories throughout Ukraine, but each one deserves to be heard. For people who have lost their loved ones in the war, their memory gives them the feeling that their loss is not in vain, that their heroes will not be forgotten. For the rest of the Ukrainians, this is a way to express gratitude, demonstrate empathy and solidarity with the families of the victims. This memory is a guarantee that Ukraine will exist.
Author: Iryna Hayova
*All photos are provided by the author
Supported by the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine. The views of the authors do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Government.