Oleh A. Zabolotnyi

Zabolotny Oleg Anatoliyovych was born on January 21, 1981, in the town of Klyuchi in the Ust-Kamchatsky District of the Kamchatka Region (Russia), where his parents were serving in the military at that time. Later, the family returned to Ukraine, to the town of Kalynivka in the Vinnytsia Region. There, the boy graduated from secondary school No. 2. Since childhood, Oleg was fascinated by technology, enjoyed repairing and restoring old rare samples of equipment, and collecting models of military vehicles, primarily aviation. He loved visiting museums and technology exhibitions. His ex-wife Iryna recalls that Oleg loved attending retro car rallies that were held annually in the town of Oleksandriya. According to the memories of relatives and friends, Oleg was a very calm person, balanced and taciturn. Oleg also consciously chose his future profession—he dedicated his life to aviation and technology. Oleg Zabolotny entered the Vasylkiv College of the Air Force, which he graduated from in 2001 with a degree in "Maintenance of Control Systems and Automation." From 2001 to 2003, he served in the military, holding aviation-technical positions in the 1st Army Aviation Brigade of the Northern Operational Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In 2003, he was released to the reserve from the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In 2009, he returned to military service in the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, holding aviation and technical positions. In 2014, as an onboard technician in helicopter crews, he participated in the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Since 2019, Oleg held the position of senior engineer (for aviation armament and landing-transport equipment of aircraft) in the engineering-aviation division of military unit 2269 of the National Guard of Ukraine. Oleg Zabolotny faced the full-scale invasion as part of the Guard Aviation Base of the National Guard of Ukraine. From February 24, 2022, the military personnel of the aviation base began round-the-clock duty. The duty forces constantly service aviation equipment of both the National Guard of Ukraine and the army aviation of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which carry out combat missions and arrive at the airfield. On April 15, 2022, around 22:25, an enemy strike was carried out on the "Oleksandriya" airfield with two Kalibr-type missiles. During the explosion, the hangar and the building of the technical-operational unit were destroyed, and other structures of the unit were also damaged. As a result of the missile strike, 6 military personnel who were performing their duties as part of the aircraft acceptance and delivery group, participating in combat actions and ensuring the security and defense of the airfield, were killed. Among the deceased was the senior engineer (for aviation armament and landing-transport equipment of aircraft) of the engineering-aviation division, Lieutenant Colonel Zabolotny Oleg Anatoliyovych. Oleg Zabolotny was buried in the town of Kalynivka in the Vinnytsia region. For his personal courage, selfless actions, and heroism demonstrated in the defense of the state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, as well as loyalty to his military oath, Zabolotny Oleg Anatoliyovych was posthumously awarded the Order of "For Courage" of the III degree. By the order of the Commander of the National Guard of Ukraine, Oleg Zabolotny has been permanently enrolled in the personnel list of military unit 2269.