Andrii F. Kholodniakov (Kholod)

Senior Lieutenant Andriy Kholodniakov (call sign Kholod) was killed on March 13, 2022, in a battle near the village of Mykil'ske in Donetsk region. The officer was wounded and stayed behind to cover the retreat of his comrades. When offered to surrender, he opened fire and with a weapon in his hands. In April, he would have turned 35 years old. Andriy was born in Dnipro. He graduated from the Dnipropetrovsk Institute of Railway Transport Engineers, earning a degree in transportation management in railway transport. He also completed a military department alongside his studies. After graduation, he worked on the railway in Zaporizhzhia. He was the deputy station master. Later, he moved to Berdiansk and worked in the port. In his free time, he wrote poetry and loved fishing. From 2019 to 2021, he fought in the area of the Joint Forces Operation in Donbas. During the full-scale war, Andriy defended Ukraine as part of the 53rd Separate Mechanized Brigade named after Prince Volodymyr Monomakh. He was a staff officer. He participated in the defense of Luhansk region, where he was killed. Initially, he was considered missing in action, but later his death was confirmed. "Andriy was a very kind, poetic, and sociable person; he never got into quarrels. After sustaining a concussion and shrapnel wounds near Volnovakha, he refused hospitalization and went to his comrades with the words: ‘If everyone is in hospitals, who will destroy the enemy?' When surrounded, wounded and unable to move, Andriy opened fire at the suggestion of a Russian soldier to surrender, thus covering the retreat of his comrades," said the officer's sister, Kateryna. Andriy was buried by locals in the village of Mykil'ske in Donetsk region. He is survived by his parents, sister, and son. Posthumously, Senior Lieutenant Andriy Kholodniakov was awarded the Order of Courage III class.