Oleksandr M. Vernyhora (Verner)

Staff Sergeant Oleksandr Vernyhora (call sign Verner) was killed on May 3, 2022, while carrying out a combat mission in the Lyman area in the Donetsk region. The warrior was 47 years old. Oleksandr was from the village of Nosivtsi, Vinnytsia region. He graduated from the local school. Then he studied at the Ladyzhyn state farm-technical school of agricultural mechanization, which he graduated from in 1993. The man was first mobilized in 2014. He defended the independence of Ukraine in the ATO zone. Later, he continued military service on a contract basis. After returning, he worked as a tractor driver at PJSC "Zernoprodukt MHP". Oleksandr went to war for the second time in the first days of the full-scale invasion. He served in the 79th separate airborne assault brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He held the position of senior gunner of the grenade launcher platoon of the fire support platoon. "My dad is a very good person. Honest. Conscientious. If he did something, he did it with his soul. He helped everyone he knew. He would remain without a piece of bread, but give it to someone else. He loved Ukraine with all his heart," said Anna Vernyhora. Oleksandr was buried in his native village. His daughter and son did not wait for their hero to return from the war. The paratrooper was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage of the III degree.