Oleksii M. Sydorchuk (Fizruk)

Paratrooper Oleksiy Sydorchuk (call sign Physruk) was killed on September 10, 2022, while performing a combat mission near the village of Novomykhailivka in Donetsk region. The defender sustained fatal injuries during enemy artillery shelling. The warrior was 39 years old. Oleksiy was born in Zhytomyr region but lived with his family in the village of Chornomorka in Mykolaiv region from his first year of life. He obtained a higher education at Mykolaiv National University named after Vasyl Sukhomlynskyi. He worked as a physical education teacher at Chornomorsk Secondary School. He educated many students, some of whom he replaced as a father figure. He was a participant in the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO). During the full-scale war, he was mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He served in the 79th Separate Air Assault Brigade. He held the position of a shooter-adjuster. "He left his name in history forever; everyone will remember him. A person whom almost half the village sought advice from. He defended Ukraine during the ATO, and from the first days of the full-scale invasion, he defended Mykolaiv, then, without rest, went to the Lyman direction, where he was surrounded for 5 days, but they managed to break out, carrying the wounded and the fallen. Later, he fought in Bohorodychne, in the Izium direction. They began our offensive on Izium, and they were redeployed to Maryinka, where he was killed. According to the soldiers who were behind Oleksiy's position at that time, they had never seen such shelling; for three days, the fire stopped only for minutes. They went on a combat mission together, and no one returned," said the son of the fallen, Andrii. Oleksiy was buried in the village of Chornomorka in Mykolaiv region. He is survived by his parents, wife, son, brother, and sister.