Oleksandr O. Boiko (Sanych)

Born on December 3, 1981, in the city of Voznesensk, Mykolaiv region. Graduated from Voznesensk Secondary School No. 7. In 1999, he entered the Odessa Institute of Land Forces, and in 2004, he received a diploma in the specialty of "Engineer in Operation and Repair of Rocket and Artillery Weapons." In 2004, he began service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine as an engineer of the reactive artillery division of the brigade artillery group of the 24th separate mechanized brigade (Yavoriv), and from 2004 to 2005, he served as the deputy commander of the howitzer self-propelled artillery battery of the howitzer self-propelled artillery division of the 53rd brigade artillery group of the 24th separate mechanized brigade. Since March 2005, for ten years, he served in the 8th separate special forces regiment (Khmelnytskyi) in positions such as commander of a special forces group, assistant to the head of the rocket and artillery weapons service of the technical unit, and from 2012, as a senior officer of the reconnaissance and information department of the regiment's headquarters. Since the beginning of the anti-terrorist operation in Eastern Ukraine, he participated in combat actions, particularly in the defense of Luhansk airport. In April 2015, he was transferred to the National Guard of Ukraine, taking the position of deputy commander of the squad — commander of the 2nd reconnaissance and search group of special forces of the separate special forces unit "Vega-West" of the Western Operational-Territorial Association of the National Guard, stationed in Ivano-Frankivsk. From 2014 to 2017, he repeatedly operated in the area of the ATO, performing combat missions for reconnaissance and search operations, conducting special reconnaissance both directly on the line of contact and in areas where operational-preventive measures against illegal armed formations were carried out. In particular, he detained a Russian reconnaissance officer who acted on the side of the separatists and discovered the location of an enemy field camp with 1,500 personnel. On April 30, 2017, he set off for the East for the fifth time — to Luhansk region. On June 3, 2017, at 6:00 AM, a reconnaissance group consisting of 6 people, led by Lieutenant Colonel Boyko, set out from the city of Zolote on a mission. Near the village of Katerynivka and the occupied city of Pervomaisk, the scouts came under enemy fire. This occurred near the "Sadovy" railway station, in the forest belt near Kabanyachyi field. Around 5:00 PM, the group returned to the location of the 24th Mechanized Brigade in Zolote. According to the soldiers, during the battle around 10:28, the commander sustained multiple gunshot wounds, and attempts were made to provide him with first aid, but he died. It was not possible to evacuate the body due to shelling. Later, upon returning to the battlefield, he was not found. Only on August 12, the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine reported that the body of the deceased had been found by a search group and delivered to Sievierodonetsk. On August 16, 2017, Oleksandr Boyko was posthumously awarded the military rank of colonel, and on August 19, hundreds of townspeople bid farewell to the officer in Independence Square in Khmelnytskyi. On the eve of the second anniversary of his death, on June 1, 2019, a monument was solemnly unveiled and consecrated at Oleksandr's grave.