Andrii V. Kozyrka

28-year-old soldier Andriy Kozyrka was killed in action on February 26, 2022, during an enemy rocket strike on a military unit in the city of Okhtyrka, Sumy region. Along with him, his younger brother Oleksandr, also a serviceman, was killed. Andriy was born in the village of Chupakhivka in the Sumy region. After school, he graduated from the Poltava Vocational Transport Lyceum, where he trained as a passenger car conductor. With the onset of the Russo-Ukrainian war in 2014, he and his brother Oleksandr volunteered to go to the front. He fought as part of the OUN volunteer battalion. He participated in battles near the village of Pisky in Donetsk region and for Donetsk airport. He was wounded. For three years, he was a participant in ATO / JFO in Donbas. He then returned home and worked as a baker at a bread factory. On the first day of the full-scale war, the Kozyrka brothers went to war together again. They were servicemen of the 91st Separate Brigade of Operational Purpose of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. They served and together. Initially, the brothers were buried in the Alley of Glory in Okhtyrka under numbers, as it was impossible to identify the bodies. Three months later, after receiving the DNA results, they were reburied in their native village. "Oleksandr Kozyrka and Andriy Kozyrka — brothers, warriors, sons, fathers! Now the boys rest at home... They were brave warriors, defending their homeland, they gave the most precious thing — their lives... They did not hide, did not fear, but fought bravely and courageously until their last breath... We will never forgive! We will avenge you, our brothers!" the military unit stated. Andriy is survived by his parents and daughter. Soldier Andriy Kozyrka was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage III degree.