Andrii M. Hrydzhuk

Soldier Andriy Grydzhuk was killed on May 13, 2023, while carrying out a combat mission near the village of Orikho-Vasylivka in the Donetsk region. The defender was 40 years old. Andriy was born in the village of Sloboda, Ivano-Frankivsk region. He studied at the local school. In 2002, he graduated from Otyniyske Vocational School No. 33. Since 2003, he lived in the city of Khotyn, Chernivtsi region. For 3 years, he was a driver at the municipal enterprise "Rembuildgazmontazh". He was an excellent driver. Then he worked as a laborer on various construction sites, including in Poland and the Czech Republic. His last job was at the company "Ukraine Bicycle". In his free time, he loved fishing, walking in the forest, hunting, and picking mushrooms. During the full-scale war, the man fought for his country in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He served in the 56th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade. He was a rifleman-sniper in the 23rd Separate Motorized Infantry Battalion "Khortytsia". "My only beloved husband was a bright, honest, very kind, sincere, sociable, positive person, a support and a support to me and our children, a grateful and understanding son, a faithful friend. He loved me and our daughters infinitely. My Andriiko was a great patriot. From the beginning of the war, he was eager to go to the front line, I kept refusing. But on August 22, 2022, I could not hold him back... Two days later, I saw him off with the girls, barely holding back tears and excitement... I embroidered him a vyshyvanka, waited for him to come home, because he said: 'Embroider faster, I will wear it on Victory Day.' And my Andriiko always told me: 'Everything will be fine, our victory is soon, you are strong in me...' He very much wanted to come home to us with the girls, he missed us. But it was not destined for us to meet and embrace again. A day before our wedding anniversary, my love, my life, my loved one was gone. And I still wait, I don't believe in the huge and irreparable loss. I miss my Andriiko, my dear loved one so much. And it's even more painful to look at our girls, who miss their dad so much, because he was a loving father, an example, and the best friend for his princesses. We miss you so much, because you occupy a special place in our lives and our hearts..." - shared Olga Grydzhuk. Andriy was buried in the Alley of Glory of the cemetery in the city of Khotyn, Chernivtsi region. At home, he was waited for by his mother, wife, and two daughters.