Oleksandr V. Kolivoshko

Oleksandr Vasyl'ovych Kolivoshko was born on November 5, 1992, in the village of Garyachkivtsi, Kryzhopil district, Vinnytsia region, in a family where harmony and mutual understanding reigned. On September 1, 1999, Oleksandr entered the 1st grade of the Garyachkivtsi secondary school I-III degrees. Teachers and classmates remember Oleksandr as a disciplined, hardworking student, a cheerful and balanced friend. He conscientiously approached public assignments, took an active part in the life of the school. He loved working with his grandfather and grandmother on the land, helping his parents around the house. In 2010, he entered the Kryzhopil Construction Lyceum, where he obtained a specialty in "Electric and Gas Welder." After graduating from the lyceum, on October 8, 2012, he was drafted for compulsory military service, which he served in the howitzer self-propelled artillery division of the 93rd Separate Guards Mechanized Kharkiv Brigade of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (military unit A-1302) stationed in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. He served conscientiously, was able to quickly orient himself and make decisions in a difficult situation. He received the military rank of "Junior Sergeant", was awarded a certificate of merit, and his parents were sent a letter of thanks for raising their son (both documents were signed by the brigade commander, Colonel O. Mikats). On October 3, 2013, Oleksandr was discharged from the reserves and returned home, full of dreams and hopes. He continued to play sports, worked at a brick factory in his native village, bought his dream car, and a computer. On August 9, 2014, he received a call demanding that he appear at the district military commissariat. Soon, Oleksandr was drafted for military service by mobilization and took up the position of assistant grenadier in the operational purpose battalion of the Vinnytsia regiment of the National Guard of Ukraine (due to the large number of sergeants among the mobilized in this battalion, many of them were appointed to "soldier" positions). On October 31, 2014, around 4:00 PM, pro-Russian separatist militants fired mortars at the 29th checkpoint on the "Bakhmutska" highway, near the town of Donetsk. As a result of a direct hit by a mine on the bunker, Junior Sergeant Kolivoshko was killed, and three other servicemen were wounded. On November 4, in his native Garyachkivtsi, Oleksandr Kolivoshko was mourned by his relatives, fellow villagers, classmates, and comrades-in-arms. The next day, he would have turned 22 years old… His homeroom teacher, Maria Fedorivna, with tears in her eyes, says: "Oleksandr's motto was to love his neighbor as himself. He had many friends. He always came to the aid of those who needed it. He was an honest and kind guy…". From the memories of Oleksandr's mother, Tetiana Ivanivna: "When Sasha was mobilized, a dove flew to our home and landed on the well. We took it in, sheltered it, and began to take care of it. A white dove, according to folk omens, is for good luck and good fortune. There was no anxiety in my heart until the news broke that enemy mortars had shelled the 29th checkpoint. I spent the whole night calling Sasha, calling friends who served with him. But all the phones were silent. And the dove beat its wings in the cage, didn't eat, didn't drink. My mother's heart was torn to pieces, the pain burned like fire, but I reassured myself that everything would be fine, it's just that the connection somehow doesn't work, and the dove wants freedom. But you can't fool a mother's heart… And rumors were already spreading through the village that the one killed at the 29th checkpoint was Sasha. Why didn't you, dove, cover him with your wing, turn away the disaster? That terrible news, like a knife to the heart, caused a burning pain… Pain that will sit in the hearts of parents and family. Pain with which I will have to live the rest of my life, that my obedient, polite, and so dear son is no more. It was a black day, October 31, 2014." By order of the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine No. 444 dated April 16, 2015, Oleksandr was entered into the Book of Memory of the Fallen Employees of the Internal Affairs Bodies of Ukraine. By order of the Commander of the National Guard of Ukraine No. 428 dated November 10, 2014, the name of Junior Sergeant Kolivoshko was forever inscribed in the list of personnel of the operational purpose company (on an armored personnel carrier) of the operational purpose battalion of the Vinnytsia regiment of the Western Territorial Command of the NGU. On August 23, 2015, a multimedia board was unveiled in Vinnytsia's Kozytsky Park, commemorating the memory of soldiers who died for Ukraine. Among them is Oleksandr Vasyl'ovych Kolivoshko.