Dmytro O. Kozhokar (Vtoryi)

Senior Sergeant Dmytro Kozhokar (call sign Vtorii) was killed on August 5, 2022, while carrying out a combat mission near the settlement of Shevchenko in the Donetsk region. The defender was 28 years old. Dmytro was born in the city of Kuznetsovsk (now Varash) in Rivne region. After finishing school, he worked in a furniture workshop. He loved football and hunting. He considered being a military his calling. He lived with his family in Kropyvnytskyi. In 2015, he went to serve in the electronic warfare unit. Since then, he has participated in the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO). In 2018, he signed a contract with military unit A2077. He met the full-scale war on the Donetsk direction. He held the position of deputy commander of the group of the 3rd Special Forces Regiment named after Prince Sviatoslav the Brave. For his service, Dmytro Kozhokar had a number of awards: the Order of Courage of the III degree, the badge "For Exemplary Military Service" of the III degree, the insignia of the Commander of the Special Operations Forces "I'm Coming" of the IV degree. Posthumously, he was awarded the Order of Courage of the II degree and the "Golden Cross" badge. "We met Dima in 2013, and from 2015 we started dating and have not parted since. In 2016, our son Sasha was born, and the following year we got married and had a church wedding. Dima was an incredible person, stubborn, purposeful, kind, hardworking. The best husband and father. He always supported me. We tried to spend all our free time together as a family, go somewhere or go for a walk. Dima was a military man in every cell of his body, it seems to me that he was born with a weapon in his hands. In 2015, he went to serve in the Electronic Warfare and since then has been directly involved in the Anti-Terrorist Operation. During the full-scale invasion, he was in the Donetsk direction, performed many complex tasks and could not return several times. The last combat mission on August 5, 2022, became fatal for Dima. It was necessary to enter the enemy positions and take them prisoner. But the enemy forces prevailed, and they opened fire on them. Dima was the first to go (he always did that). His last words were: "Glory to Ukraine!" He had the opportunity to stay at home, be an instructor and teach others, but he constantly told me: "I will be here, and my guys will be there? How so? And if everyone sits at home, who will protect you? Who, if not me?" "Who, if not me?" - this phrase is constantly in my head, I constantly hear it. It is very difficult to survive this loss, because I breathed and lived with him. I loved him, I love him and I will love him until my last breath. He will forever remain in my heart and in our son, who is very similar to his father," said his wife Vitalina. The defender was buried in the Alley of Honorary Burials of the Far Eastern Cemetery in Kropyvnytskyi. Dmytro is survived by his wife Vitalina, son Oleksandr, grandmother Svitlana, and mother Oksana.