Oleksandr I. Mochalov (Viva)

Born on February 28, 1978, in Havana (Republic of Cuba) to a military family. Since 1979, he lived in the city of Poltava. In 1995, he graduated from secondary school No. 38 in Poltava, then from the Kharkiv State Economic University (now Kharkiv National Economic University named after Semen Kuznets). Recently, he worked as a master consultant in the service department of the Limited Liability Company "Poltavakar" in Poltava. In 2014, he volunteered to join the 2nd Special Purpose Battalion (reserve battalion) "Donbas" of the Northern Operational-Territorial Association of the National Guard of Ukraine (military unit 3027), where he served as a reconnaissance medic in the 4th section of the 3rd platoon of the special purpose 3rd company. In June 2014, he drove a pickup truck from Poltava to the "Donbas" battalion to install a machine gun and be able to evacuate the wounded. Since August 2014, he participated in the anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine. Call sign "Viva". He liberated the city of Popasna in the Luhansk region. Since August 24, 2014, he was involved in the battles for the city of Ilovaisk in the Donetsk region. On August 29, 2014, during the exit from the "Ilovaisk cauldron" through the so-called "green corridor," a truck carrying reserve soldier Mochalov was moving as part of the convoy of the "Donbas" battalion from the village of Mnohopyllya towards the village of Chervonosil'ske in the Amvrosiivskyi district of the Donetsk region. On the outskirts of the village of Chervonosil'ske, the convoy was ambushed by Russian-terrorist groups. The blast wave threw Oleksandr Mochalov out of the back of the vehicle. Regaining consciousness, he participated in repelling the enemy attack, unsuccessfully trying to start the vehicle. He died in this battle from a gunshot wound to the temple. After his death, due to the explosion, Oleksandr Mochalov's body was damaged and mutilated. Since then, he was considered missing in action. On October 16, 2014, he was temporarily buried as an unknown soldier at the Krasnopil Cemetery in Dnipropetrovsk (now Dnipro). In January 2015, he was identified through DNA testing. On February 6, 2015, he was reburied at the Central Cemetery in Poltava.