Mykola V. Saienko (Saia)

Commander of the combat group Mykola Saienko (call sign Saia) was killed on December 17, 2022 near the settlement of Kamianka in the Donetsk region, while carrying out a combat mission to repel the territory. He provided emergency assistance to a comrade-in-arms when an enemy sniper shot him in the head. The warrior was 31 years old. Mykola was born in the city of Nizhyn, Chernihiv region. He studied at the local school No. 5. In 2009, he entered the Faculty of Finance and Economics of the Chernihiv State Institute of Economics and Management. In July 2014, he received a diploma in "Banking". During his studies, he also completed the military department of reserve officers of the Ivan Kozhedub Kharkiv National Air Force University. He received the rank of junior lieutenant. For a long time he was engaged in sports - boxing, combat sambo, hand-to-hand combat, pankration, mixed martial arts. He held prize-winning places in the city, regional, all-Ukrainian and international competitions. He held the position of director of the "Motostandart" store in his hometown. Since 2019, he has served in the ranks of the National Guard of Ukraine. As part of the "Omega" special unit, he participated in the Joint Forces Operation in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. At the time of the full-scale war, Mykola had the rank of captain. In July 2022, he was appointed commander of a special purpose combat group of a separate special purpose detachment of the Northern Kyiv Territorial Administration of the NGU. He was in the hottest areas. He repeatedly saved his comrades-in-arms and civilians. During the evacuation of the wounded, he himself came under enemy fire. But after treatment, he returned to the front line as soon as possible. During his service, the officer was repeatedly awarded, in particular in 2022 he received the medal "For Military Service to Ukraine". "At the beginning of 2022, we got married. During the rotation, we traveled with my husband. He was engaged in landscaping of the land plot, planted trees and vegetables. When he found out that I was pregnant, he started work on building his own house. The best husband with a capital letter! He did everything to make us feel good. We never talked about work, it was a taboo. "Everything is fine..." There is a lot to tell, but nothing can be changed, time cannot be turned back..." said Yulia Saienko. The hero was buried at the Savskyi cemetery in his native Nizhyn. At home, Mykola was awaited by his parents, brother, wife and daughter Solomiia, who was born in April 2023 and whom he never saw. Posthumously, Captain Mykola Saienko was awarded the Order of Courage of the III degree and promoted to the rank of major.