Artem A. Amelin

Amelin Artem Andriyovych was born on August 20, 1994, in the city of Poltava. His childhood was not without its challenges, yet it was happy. When the boy turned 4 years old, his parents divorced, and his upbringing was supported by his grandmother and grandfather. After completing 9 grades at a general education school, Artem enrolled in the local vocational and technical school No. 23, which he graduated from in June 2013. He then worked in his acquired specialty as a gas welder at one of the enterprises in Poltava. From a young age, Artem was an initiative and very energetic boy, who found it difficult to stay still. As an adult, he was always ready to lend a helping hand. After working for some time at the enterprise, Artem was conscripted for military service. He excelled in military matters, leading him to decide to dedicate his life to it. In June 2021, he signed a contract for service in the Hostomel Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine. For about 9 months, the guardsman mastered the position of senior machine gunner and aspired to protect our state in the area of the Joint Forces Operation (JFO), where he could apply his acquired knowledge and skills. On February 23, 2022, due to the tense operational situation ahead of the large-scale invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine, the military operational reserve of the brigade was urgently redeployed to Luhansk region. On February 24, as part of a battalion tactical group, Senior Soldier Amelin began to carry out a combat mission in one of the most dangerous areas of the JFO — on the outskirts of the urban-type settlement of Trokhizbenka in the Shchastynskyi district of Luhansk region. On February 26 at 11:35, the guardsmen recorded the approach of a large column of enemy armored vehicles near the destroyed bridge over the Siverskyi Donets River — a total of 16 T-72 tanks and two BMPs were counted in it. In an attempt to break through the line of defense, the occupiers began heavy shelling of the guards' positions, using large-caliber machine guns, mortars, grenade launchers, and rapid-fire anti-aircraft guns. Through superhuman efforts, remarkable military skill, and valor, our soldiers managed to hold off the advance of the Russian occupation forces for 3 hours. This allowed the personnel of the 42nd Motorized Infantry Battalion of the 57th Brigade and the 79th Air Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to retreat to reserve positions in the vicinity of the city of Sievierodonetsk. The unit was then extracted from encirclement, the military equipment was redeployed, and the wounded were evacuated, among whom was Senior Soldier Artem Amelin. In that battle, Artem proved to be a true fighter. When the enemy was already dangerously close to the guards' positions, he managed to reach a mounted anti-tank grenade launcher under fire and, despite having a damaged optical sight, made an accurate shot at the turret of a Russian tank, jamming it. Under heavy fire from 82-mm mortars, the enemy began to deploy its column into combat formation. One of the tanks broke through to the observation posts, attempting to crush the guardsmen who were retreating to reserve firing positions. Senior Soldier Amelin crawled up to the enemy vehicle and threw two anti-tank grenades into it one after another, disabling the tank. In doing so, the soldier sustained shrapnel wounds but continued to cover the retreat and regrouping of his comrades. Later, new Russian shells struck nearby, resulting in Artem receiving multiple shrapnel wounds. His brothers-in-arms immediately provided him with first aid and even managed to deliver him alive to the hospital, but during resuscitation efforts, the guardsman's heart stopped. For the courage and heroism displayed in defending the state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and for his loyalty to the military oath, Senior Soldier Amelin Artem Andriyovych was posthumously awarded the title of "Hero of Ukraine" with the Order of the Golden Star.