Oleksii S. Ostapenko

Sergeant Major Oleksii Ostapenko (call sign Plastyd) died on August 3, 2024 while carrying out a combat mission near the settlement of Pivnichne in the Donetsk region. The defender was 31 years old. The warrior was born in Kharkiv. After school, he obtained secondary specialized education at the Kharkiv Electromechanical Technical School of Transport Construction. He worked in construction, had a team that performed interior work in new developments. He loved fishing. Oleksii participated in the Anti-Terrorist Operation. During the full-scale war, he defended the Motherland as part of the 95th Separate Airmobile Brigade. He held the position of squad commander, sapper of the engineering reconnaissance engineering-sapper platoon. For his service, Oleksii had a number of awards: the distinction "For Participation in the Anti-Terrorist Operation", the "Golden Cross", the badges "Participant of the Anti-Terrorist Operation", "For Personal Courage", "Veteran of War" and the Order of Courage of the III degree. "He was the happiest person of all I know, the best husband and father. His brigade was always at 'zero', they were never withdrawn to the rear, and he, despite everything he went through, always told me: 'Who, if not us?' " - said his wife Yana. The defender was buried in cemetery No. 18 in his native Kharkiv. Oleksii is survived by his wife Yana, son Markus, mother Liudmyla Mykolaivna and father Serhii Viktorovych.