Oleksandr I. Hrynko (Hrynia)

Alexander Grinko (call sign Grinya), a defender of Mariupol, was killed on July 29, 2022, during a terrorist attack in the colony in the temporarily occupied village of Olenivka in the Donetsk region. The 39-year-old "Azov" serviceman was in captivity after leaving "Azovstal". Alexander was born and lived in Mariupol, Donetsk region. He worked in the converter shop of the Ilyich Mariupol Iron and Steel Works. In his hometown, he met a girl named Victoria. The lovers got married and dreamed of the future. Alexander built a house himself. He worked very hard, as he always wanted his family to live in prosperity. He loved his dog Naiko very much. "2014... War, uncertainty and fear, but we stayed in Mariupol... He was not himself! I understood that he was torn apart by the sense of injustice and the inability to prove to people what is true and what is propaganda," said his wife Victoria. On January 24, 2015, the occupiers shelled the Skhidny district in Mariupol. Alexander went there after work and helped people restore their homes. One evening he came home and told his beloved: "I'm going to Azov, I have to defend the country, I have to protect you. They will come for us, and I have to be ready for this!" That year, the man joined the ranks of the Azov Regiment of the National Guard of Ukraine. He was a signaler. However, later he mastered engineering, sapper and mortar skills. "He defended the country, defended Mariupol, defended every family that lived there, every child. He was in the city until the end, and I know that if necessary, he would have been there until his last breath," Victoria said. During the full-scale war, Sergeant First Class Alexander Grinko was one of the first to defend Mariupol. He went through fierce battles for the city and the Azovstal plant. However, then, together with his comrades-in-arms, he fell into enemy captivity. After the terrorist attack in Olenivka on July 29, 2022, the Russian side published a list of deceased Ukrainian servicemen. Alexander Grinko's name was on it. On June 13, 2023, the warrior was bid farewell at the Baikove Cemetery in Kyiv. His parents, sister, wife and daughter did not wait for their defender.