Kostiantyn Ye. Hrytsenko (Zmii)

Defender Kostiantyn Hrytsenko (call sign Snake) died on August 30, 2023, in a hospital in Kryvyi Rih due to cardiac arrest. A few months earlier, he had sustained an injury during an artillery shelling in Chasiv Yar, Donetsk region. The warrior was forever 43 years old. Kostiantyn was born in Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk region. After school, he enrolled in the local professional college of the National Aviation University. He worked as a shift supervisor at Kryvyi Rih Correctional Colony No. 80, a controller at the Southern Mining and Processing Plant, and at the municipal enterprise "Sanservice". He also had a team that engaged in home repairs and insulation. He was interested in welding. In 2014, the man was drafted into military service. He held the position of platoon commander in the 17th Separate Tank Brigade named after Kostiantyn Pestushko. He participated in the Anti-Terrorist Operation and sustained concussions. Later, he was transferred to the 54th Separate Mechanized Brigade, and in 2016, he signed a contract with the 10th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade "Edelweiss", where he held the position of reconnaissance sergeant. During the full-scale war, Kostiantyn was the chief sergeant of the engineer-sapper platoon of the 17th Separate Tank Brigade named after Kostiantyn Pestushko. He participated in the liberation of Kherson, carried out tasks near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, and in the Kharkiv region. He was awarded the commemorative badge of the Ukrainian military intelligence, the medals "Defender of the Fatherland" and "Participant of the Anti-Terrorist Operation". "The life path of my husband is a story of devotion to his native land and a struggle for principles that should impress with the power of spirit and loyalty to his comrades-in-arms," wrote his wife Valentyna. The defender was buried in the Alley of Glory of the "Vsebratske" cemetery in Kryvyi Rih. Kostiantyn is survived by his mother, wife, and two sons.