Ihor I. Prokopenko (Hantelia)

Serviceman Igor Prokopenko (call sign Hantel) was killed overnight on July 29, 2022, as a result of a terrorist attack in the colony of the temporarily occupied settlement of Olenivka in the Donetsk region. The warrior was 21 years old. Igor was from Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia region. He finished 9 grades at the local school, and then acquired the profession of a machine operator at a vocational school. He joined the special purpose unit of the NGU "Azov" in January 2022. Before that, he served for two years under contract in the National Guard. It was at the base in Urzuf, where he was training, that the full-scale invasion caught him. Ksenia Prokopenko, the elder sister, recalls that she last saw her brother during the New Year holidays. "On February 24, I had a short correspondence with my brother, from which I learned that they were leaving Urzuf for Mariupol. Without details. He was worried that everything was fine with my parents and our younger brother. Because Igor knew that the enemy troops were entering Melitopol. I replied that I would take care of everyone, the main thing is that everything is fine with him and that he returns home," the sister said. Ksenia adds that she and her parents rarely managed to communicate with Igor: during all 86 days of the defense of Mariupol, he contacted them about five times. The last time the brother and sister talked was on April 21. "The situation is now difficult, but I will definitely not go into captivity. If I have to go into captivity, I will blow myself up with a grenade," Ksenia quotes her brother. On May 16, relatives saw the appeal of commander Denis Prokopenko about the exit from "Azovstal" into captivity. Ksenia did not see her brother in any video or photo, so she was not sure if Igor left the metallurgical plant. And on the morning of July 30, lists provided by Russian media appeared. Igor Prokopenko was number two on the list. That's how the family found out that their son and brother had was killed in the terrorist attack. The family waited for the results of the DNA examination from October 2022. They received the message about the match on May 23, 2023. In Ksenia's memories, her brother was a kind person who always helped everyone and was ready to give away the last thing. He brought cats and dogs home from the street. He wanted to live and travel, in particular to visit the Carpathians, to go to the mountains. He also had a dream - to renovate the family home in Melitopol. Igor's parents and sister are left behind.