Ihor A. Solomennikov

22-year-old military pilot Igor Solomennіkov was killed on March 1, 2023 while performing a combat mission near the city of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region. His SU-24M aircraft was shot down by an enemy fighter. Igor was born in Sevastopol, Crimea. He graduated from the Ivan Kozhedub Kharkiv National Air Force University. After graduation, he served in the 7th Tactical Aviation Brigade named after Petro Franko. With the start of the full-scale invasion, Captain Igor Solomennіkov defended the Ukrainian sky from Russian invaders and successfully destroyed the enemy. "There are events that instantly tear the heart into bloody shreds and black blizzards stick to the eyes... On the first day of spring, performing a combat flight, Igor Solomennіkov, a young man who grew up before my eyes, a young man my son called his brother, died... 22 years old... He chose the sky and planes, and he will go on his last journey with the little planes. The little planes that I baked with my own hands in our workshop, and the children painted them. May they carry him to paradise on their little wings," wrote acquaintance Olena Melnyk. "One of the most painful days of this war for me personally. A person close to our family has died. There are no words to convey the full pain we are feeling now. Igor will forever remain in our hearts," wrote Oleksandr Kapranov. "Pain and tears... My student, Igor Solomennіkov, the navigator of the SU-24M aircraft, died. The plane was shot down by a Russian SU-35 fighter. My dear boy, eternal memory to you! Heroes never die. You will always remain in my memory as a bright, honest and courageous boy... Bow to the parents," wrote Margarita Ivanova. The officer was buried in Kyiv. Igor is survived by his parents, relatives, friends and comrades-in-arms.