Oleksandr O. Kotov

Born on January 23, 1983, in the village of Nova Dacha, Pavlohrad district, Dnipropetrovsk region. In 2000, he graduated from the general education school in the village of Nova Dacha, Pavlohrad district. From May 2001 to October 2002, he served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In 2004, he graduated from the Dnipropetrovsk Polytechnic College with a degree in "Applied Ecology." After graduating from college, he worked at PJSC "DTEK Pavlohradvuhillia" at the West Donbas Mine, and then at the Dnipro Mine. Since 2012, he studied at the National Mining University (now in the city of Dnipro) in part-time education. In March 2014, he was mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He served in the 25th Separate Dnipropetrovsk Airborne Brigade of the High Mobility Airborne Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (military unit A1126, the urban-type settlement of Hvardiyiske, Novomoskovsk district, Dnipropetrovsk region). Since the spring of 2014, he participated in the anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine. On June 14, 2014, around 01:00 AM, the military transport aircraft IL-76 MD of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, while approaching to land at the airport in the city of Luhansk, was shot down by terrorists using a portable anti-aircraft missile system. On board the aircraft were 40 servicemen of the 25th Separate Dnipropetrovsk Airborne Brigade, including soldier Kotov, and 9 crew members. As a result of the crash, all personnel of the airborne unit and the aircraft crew were killed. He was buried in the cemetery of the village of Nova Dacha, Pavlohrad district. In the village of Nova Dacha, Pavlohrad district, a memorial plaque was installed on the facade of the general education school (Pushkin Street, 7), where Oleksandr Kotov studied.