Denys V. Tkach (Makdi)

Denis Viktorovych Tkach was born on September 13, 1986, in the village of Mykilske, Luhansk region. After graduating from the local school and completing his mandatory military service, in 2007 he decided to continue his service in the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine. At the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine, he served in the Luhansk Border Detachment. On February 24, 2022, Denis Tkach was on duty at a combat post near the village of Zorynivka on the border with Russia. Around 3:30 a.m., the guard noticed a Russian sabotage group crossing the border through a thermal imager. Denis ordered five subordinates to retreat from their positions while he took up a position behind a machine gun and engaged in combat, in which he was killed by Russian invaders. His body was found by his wife Oksana near the border post in the morning. He was buried in his native village. For personal courage and selfless actions displayed in defense of the state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and loyalty to the military oath, Denis Viktorovych Tkach was posthumously awarded the Order of "For Courage" III class.