Andrii M. Kolombet

Sergeant Andriy Kolombet was killed on March 30, 2022, while carrying out a combat mission in the Donetsk region. The defender sustained a fatal shrapnel wound to the head. He was 45 years old. Andriy was born in the settlement of Pivnichne in the Donetsk region. He studied at the local school No. 3, graduated from the Dzerzhinsky Mining College, and then served his mandatory military service in Kyiv. He worked as a miner in the city of Toretsk in the Donetsk region. Later, he completed a motorist course in Mariupol and worked as a sailor-motorist, going on foreign voyages. He was a well-rounded person: he had been involved in sports since childhood, read a lot, and was a good painter, and he had also taught himself English. He was passionate about car painting and did his job professionally and responsibly. When the Russian-Ukrainian war in Donbas began, Andriy returned to his first profession as a miner to be closer to his family. He went to the military enlistment office and asked to be trained, saying, "If a full-scale war starts, I want to be ready." In 2018, he went for training in the Lviv region, at the Yavoriv military training ground. On the first day of the full-scale invasion, the man joined the ranks of the 54th Separate Mechanized Brigade named after Hetman Ivan Mazepa and went to defend his native Donetsk region. He was a gunner. "My father is my pride, an example of a strong, decisive, real man. Dad was reliable, I could always count on him. He was very kind, honest, and fair. I really want to tell him: 'Dad, dear, I miss you so much...' " - said the fallen warrior's daughter Iryna. The defender was buried at the Krasnopilskyi cemetery in Dnipro. Andriy is survived by his parents, wife, and daughter.