Oleksandr V. Kitaiev (Shakhtar)

Junior Sergeant Oleksandr Kitaiev (call sign Shakhtar) was killed on September 24, 2022 in the Kharkiv region. While returning from a combat mission, he encountered an enemy mine near the village of Pisky-Radkivski. Oleksandr was 33 years old. He was born in the city of Chervonohrad, Lviv region. After school, he studied at vocational school No. 55 there, and then graduated from the Dnipropetrovsk Mining University. In civilian life, he worked at a mine in his hometown. From 2009 to 2010, he served in the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. In April 2015, as part of the 9th Vinnytsia Battalion of the Territorial Defense, he defended Ukraine in the East, particularly in Bakhmut and Popasna. With the start of the full-scale war, he served in the ranks of the 80th Separate Airborne Assault Brigade. He was the commander of an anti-tank fire support section. He fought in the Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, and Donetsk directions. The defender was buried in the Alley of Heroes of the cemetery in the village of Bendiuha. Oleksandr is survived by his parents and two brothers. The warrior was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage of the III degree.