Andrii O. Lytovchenko (Bleid)

Commander of the platoon Andrii Lytovchenko (call sign Blade) was killed in action on July 12, 2022, while performing a combat mission in the area of Dementiivka village, Kharkiv region. The 33-year-old defender suffered fatal explosive injuries. Andrii was born in the town of Volodarsk-Volynsky (now the town of Horoshiv) in Zhytomyr region. He graduated from the Faculty of Aircraft and the Faculty of Programming at the National Aviation University in Kyiv. He was a developer at SRRM - the Marseille Center for Elementary Particle Physics. Since 2018, he has lived in France. He loved mountains, bike rides, was engaged in boxing, and constantly improved his professional skills. In 2015, Andrii met his future wife Nadiia at military courses in the Ukrainian Legion. In the winter of 2016, they went as paramedics to ASAP. Later, the couple got married and then moved to France. There, their firstborn was born. The couple wanted another child very much. After the start of the full-scale war, Andrii returned to Ukraine. He joined the 241st Separate Brigade of the Territorial Defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He was the commander of the "Black Raven" rifle company platoon. Together with his comrades, he bravely defended the Motherland from the enemy. "Andrii was extremely honest, open, conscientious, had a good sense of humor, a keen sense of justice. Although by profession he was not a military man, however, during the full-scale invasion, he returned to Ukraine without hesitation and took up arms. He taught his unit tactics, performed tasks well, was very responsible, bright, and principled," his wife Nadiia said. The defender was buried in the village of Hotiv, Kyiv region. Andrii is survived by his mother, wife, and one-year-old son.