Hordii O. Kiktenko (Banh)

At the age of four, Gordiy lost his mother and was raised by his grandparents. In his native city of Oleksandriya, he attended secondary school No. 15 until 2008. In June 2011, he graduated from vocational school No. 17, acquiring the profession of a wide-profile machinist. He was known in the city as an activist of the informal movement of fans of the capital's football club "Dynamo." He was passionate about drawing and hip-hop dancing. He was drafted for compulsory military service in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and later continued his service under contract. In December 2013, he was discharged from the reserves and returned to Oleksandriya. During the Revolution of Dignity, he joined the ranks of local self-defense activists, guarding the Oleksandriya checkpoint. Later, having signed a contract for service in the military reserve of the National Guard of Ukraine, he was assigned to the reserve special forces battalion "Donbas." He participated in many battles to liberate settlements in Donbas. After the Ilovaisk cauldron, Gordiy's friends found his body in one of the Dnipropetrovsk morgues… Yevheniya Yefremova: "We were among the first to learn that Gordiy had died. We immediately decided that we would find the body and bury our friend with honor, and erect a monument on his grave. His elderly grandmother wouldn't have been able to cope with this alone. The command of the "Donbas" battalion informed us that Gordiy had been shot by a sniper, but then his body was transported by a truck with ammunition that was constantly exploding, so there was very little left of the soldier. And while the fighting was still going on near Ilovaisk, it was impossible for the military to evacuate the body of the deceased from there. Subsequently, no one helped with the search. But we didn't give up. We called Dnipropetrovsk hospitals, morgues, because we remembered Gordiy's last words. He said on the phone that he would soon get out of hell alive and unscathed and come home…" Romeo, a fellow soldier: "I want to say that Gordiy was always cheerful. I remember how he loved to try on helmets, walked around in them and laughed. In a way, he remained a child, but on the other hand, he was already a grown man. I want to tell everyone to be proud of their son, their fellow countryman, that they raised such a person. This is a person you could trust. Believe me, I am 34 years old, and he was 21, but I would have trusted him with my back." Journalist, Facebook user Yliana Pereskotska: "Look into these eyes. At this look of young Ukraine. A volunteer who is no longer with us. This is Bang from the "Donbas" battalion. Today, on St. Nicholas Day, he would have turned 22. He would have celebrated. He would have turned on the music on his laptop and everyone would have danced. He would have laughed the loudest. He would have charged everyone with positivity, because that's what he was like. Positive, with a warm heart. You wanted to live with him and look towards a bright future. He was one of the first guys I met when I first went east in July. His platoon commander told us, the journalists, that Bang would tell us how they liberated the checkpoint and took a trophy vehicle with weapons. I look and see that I have a very young guy in front of me. "How old are you?" I ask. "What are you doing here? Do your parents know?" "I'm defending my country. I'm 21. I'm an orphan. I have a grandmother who I call. I could go abroad, like my friends, and not think about all this, but I stayed here and volunteered, because it's my duty." I was speechless. I had no words. I was proud of HIM. In Kurakhove, he lent me his laptop and showed me his tattoos. He had a machine gun and was going to be one of the first on the operation. Everyone remembers him smiling. Gordiy died in Ilovaisk on August 29. He would have turned 22. He could have built Ukraine with us… Heroes don't die! Eternal memory!"