Pavlo S. Nikonov

Born on December 19, 1989, in the city of Dnipropetrovsk (now Dnipro). Graduated from the 9th grade of general education school No. 142 in Dnipropetrovsk, then from the Dnipropetrovsk Industrial College. In 2010-2011, he served in the 25th Separate Dnipropetrovsk Airborne Brigade of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (military unit A1126, the urban-type settlement of Hvardiyiske, Novomoskovsk district of Dnipropetrovsk region). In March 2014, he was mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He served in the 25th Separate Dnipropetrovsk Airborne Brigade of the High Mobility Airborne Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (military unit A1126, the urban-type settlement of Hvardiyiske, Novomoskovsk district of Dnipropetrovsk region). From the summer of 2014, he participated in the anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine. On June 14, 2014, around 1:00 AM, the military transport aircraft IL-76 MD of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, while approaching to land at the airport in the city of Luhansk, was shot down by terrorists using a portable anti-aircraft missile system. On board the aircraft were 40 servicemen of the 25th Separate Dnipropetrovsk Airborne Brigade, including soldier Nikонов, and 9 crew members. As a result of the crash, all personnel of the landing force and the aircraft crew were killed. On July 25, 2014, he was buried in the cemetery of the village of Obukhivka in the Dnipropetrovsk (now Dnipro) district. In the city of Dnipropetrovsk (now Dnipro), on December 11, 2014, memorial plaques were installed on the facade of general education school No. 142 (2 Zampolita Belyaeva Street) and on the facade of the building (2 Vysotsky Street), where Pavlo Nikонов studied and lived.