Oleksandr O. Shemchuk

Senior Lieutenant Oleksandr Shemchuk was killed on July 9, 2024 in the Poltava region in a helicopter Mi-8 crash while evacuating the aircraft from under enemy attack. The officer was now forever 43 years old. Oleksandr was from the city of Vasylkiv in the Kyiv region. He studied at the local secondary school. He graduated from the Chernihiv Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots. Later, he received education at the Kyiv Institute of the Air Force and the Ivan Kozhedub Kharkiv National University of the Air Force. He served in the 12th Separate Army Aviation Brigade named after Major General Viktor Pavlenko. After completing his service in 2011, he took the position of design engineer at the "Komfortbud" Design Institute. In 2014-2015, he participated in the Anti-Terrorist Operation. He returned to peaceful life and worked as an engineer. In his free time, he was engaged in making wooden products. From the first days of the full-scale invasion, Oleksandr returned to the ranks of the 12th Separate Army Aviation Brigade. He held the position of aircraft technician. He carried out combat missions in the Kharkiv, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Poltava regions. For his outstanding merits, the officer was awarded the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky. "Oleksandr was extremely responsible during the war. He said: 'Better now us than later our children.' He consciously returned to service in 2014, being a military pensioner at the time, and participated in the Anti-Terrorist Operation. The same in 2022, he stood up to defend the state. He was cheerful, very kind and caring, tender, a loving husband and father, and also cared for his parents. He sincerely believed in the Lord and always said: 'Rejoice that your names are written in heaven.' He left a wonderful example of a true person," his wife Olena said. The pilot was buried at the Lychakiv Cemetery in Lviv. Oleksandr is survived by his parents, wife, son and daughter.