Arsen D. Kovalenko

32-year-old defender Arsen Kovalenko was killed on August 21, 2022 during battles with the occupiers near the village of Poltavka in the Zaporizhia region. The life of the warrior was cut short by a fragment of a Russian shell. Arsen was born and lived in Zaporizhia. He studied at the local gymnasium No. 61. From a young age, he was fond of sports, had awards for competitions in weightlifting, handball, arm wrestling and created an American football team. He dreamed of becoming a medalist at the Olympic Games in weightlifting. Later, he moved to Poland, where he worked at the Dobrowolski company, which is engaged in the manufacture and sale of special equipment in the machine-building industry. After the start of the full-scale invasion, the man returned to Ukraine to defend his native lands. Arsen served in the 115th battalion of the 110th separate brigade of the territorial defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Together with his comrades-in-arms, he held the defense near Huliaipole, where fierce battles took place. On the day of his death, Arsen managed to write to his wife and sister in the morning, asking how they were doing. "That morning he somehow wrote to me: 'Olya, how are you? Hold on.' And I write: 'We are holding on, hold on too.' It seems as if he knew something," the sister of the deceased Olga said. "Arsen Kovalenko, a wonderful friend, athlete and person, was killed! I knew him personally! He returned to Ukraine to defend it! I just can't believe it! Damn rasha and all its inhabitants! Eternal memory to the man with a big heart," wrote the deceased's friend Yevhen Serkov. Arsen was buried in his native Zaporizhia. The warrior left behind a wife and daughter.