Andrii V. Kushnir (Piton)

Senior Lieutenant Andriy Kushnir (call sign Python) was killed on October 28, 2022, near the village of Andriivka in the Bakhmut district of Donetsk region. While carrying out a combat mission to improve the tactical positioning of the battery, he sustained fatal injuries. Andriy was born in the Russian city of Tynda. In his childhood, he moved with his parents to Khmelnytskyi region, to the village of Bozhykivtsi. There he received his secondary education. In 2006, he was drafted for mandatory military service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and a year later, he signed a contract. He served in military unit A3091 in Zhytomyr region. In 2017, he entered the Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi National Academy of Ground Forces in Lviv, where he studied ground artillery. After graduating in 2021, he was assigned to continue his service in the 30th Separate Mechanized Brigade named after Prince Konstantin Ostrozhsky. That same year, he went to carry out combat missions in the area of the Joint Forces Operation in Donetsk region. The full-scale invasion began while the officer was with his unit near Bakhmut. On March 2, 2022, he was appointed commander of the anti-tank artillery battery of the anti-tank artillery division of the 30th Mechanized Brigade. He participated in battles for Kharkiv and Donetsk regions. For his service, the military was awarded the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine "Steel Cross." "Andriy was a very good person, the best father for his daughter, a caring son. He said not to worry, the war would end, I would come to you and we would celebrate victory together... But it was not meant to be..." said his aunt Alla Humenyuk. The officer was buried in the village of Bozhykivtsi in Khmelnytskyi region. He is survived by his parents, a brother who is a serviceman, a wife, a daughter, and other relatives, friends, and comrades. Posthumously, Andriy Kushnir was awarded the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi III degree and granted the rank of captain. He was also posthumously awarded the title of "Honorary Citizen of the City of Zvyagel," where he lived most of his life. A memorial plaque in his honor was installed on the façade of the school he graduated from.