Oleksandr I. Zolotukhin (Zola)

Alexander Zolotukhyn (call sign Zola, Falikula), a soldier of the Territorial Defense Forces, was killed on January 31, 2023, while performing a combat mission near the settlement of Krasna Hora in the Donetsk region. The warrior received fatal injuries during an enemy tank shelling. The defender was 38 years old. Alexander was born in Donetsk. He obtained the profession of an electromechanic. After the start of the Russian-Ukrainian war, in 2015, he moved to Kyiv. He worked as a specialist in the district at Nova Poshta. He loved to spend his free time with friends, go to the theater, concerts, and walk around the city with his family. He was interested in music and art. During the full-scale Russian invasion, Alexander became a soldier of the 206th separate battalion of the territorial defense of the 241st brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces. He was an assistant machine gunner. "I am proud of my husband, because he could have stayed home with his family, but he voluntarily chose the path of fighting the enemy. Since we moved from Donetsk, from the occupation, we knew from our own experience what awaited Ukraine in case of our weakness. I know that my husband as a defender did everything he could, and we will do everything to rebuild the free developed country that he dreamed of and planned to participate in its development after the victory," said the wife of the fallen warrior, Tetyana. "He was my first extracurricular friend. The first and, it seems, the only one who could be liked by my mother (although he did not try at all). There was some charisma in this simplicity and sincerity. How many times he sent laughter from the trenches... Even when he didn't send laughter, he still did it laughingly. That's how you were. And now you won't send it anymore. Friend. I wanted to believe that your laughter was something that would last longer than this war, and that it would be there after the war, and not about the war. And now my never-read message to you will hang... That same Sasha, who could be recognized by his gait at any age under any circumstances. The one who remembered from the first summer that there are 18 days between our birthdays and could unexpectedly congratulate me," wrote the deceased's friend Maria. The body of the soldier was cremated in Kyiv. Alexander is survived by his wife, two sons, sister, and nephews.