Andrii O. Vdovenko (Vdova)

Andriy Oleksandrovych Vdovenko was born on September 4, 1998, in the village of Malynove, Volnovakha district, Donetsk region. In 2013, he graduated from Olenivska School No. 1. He studied at Dokuchaievsk Trade College. When he was 15 years old, the Russo-Ukrainian war began. Therefore, he completed his studies at Kyiv Trade and Economic College in 2016. Andriy is the great-grandson of Adam Samiylovych Vdovenko, who fought for an independent Ukraine alongside other volunteers of the Cold Yar from 1917 to 1922. During the German occupation in 1942-1943, Adam Vdovenko served as the village elder of Trushivtsi in the Chyhyryn district of Cherkasy region. He was so humane and just that the Soviet authorities barely managed to fabricate charges against him after he returned to Ukrainian lands. In 1933, Adam Vdovenko's family fled from famine and repression in Trushivtsi to Donbas. Andriy led an active lifestyle, loved to travel, often camping, was very easygoing, enjoyed various sports, loved snowboarding, diving, snorkeling, went on kayak trips, and had experience in rafting. In his teenage years, he practiced roof climbing and boxing. When Andriy turned 18, he went to the military enlistment office and signed a contract to serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. From 2016 to 2019, he participated in the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) and the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) as part of the 58th Independent Motorized Infantry Brigade, holding the position of a scout. He completed a survival instructor training course from Ukraine's foreign partners. He fought in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. In September 2021, he got married. He worked in cargo transportation and gradually developed in this field, moving from a small pickup truck to a large truck within a year. After the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine on February 24, 2022, he again took up the defense of his homeland, serving as a grenade launcher in the 95th Air Assault Brigade. Initially, the unit was deployed to the area of the city of Horlivka, then to the village of Solodke. In a phone conversation with his mother and sister, he said, "I am near our real home." He was killed at dawn on March 21, 2022, in a battle near the village of Solodke in Donetsk region, not far from the village where he was born. He is buried in the Alley of Heroes at the Lisove Cemetery in Kyiv. Andriy is survived by his parents, sister, and wife.