Pavlo S. Romanenko (Kandahar)

29-year-old paratrooper Pavlo Romanenko was killed on May 24, 2022 during the defense of the Kharkiv region. Pavlo was born in the village of Bilyaivka (Russia). Later he moved to Kyiv. He graduated from the Zhytomyr State Technological University with a degree in "Automotive Transport". He actively participated in the Revolution of Dignity. And when the Russian-Ukrainian war began in 2014, he volunteered to defend Ukraine as part of the 11th battalion of the Territorial Defense "Kievan Rus". He participated in the Anti-Terrorist Operation, where he took the call sign Kandahar. In 2017-2018, he served in the "Peacekeeper" battalion of the National Police of Ukraine in the Kyiv region. In 2018-2019, he was a personal security instructor at the National Police training center. Since 2019, Pavlo has been associated with the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He served in the 131st separate reconnaissance battalion. In October 2020, Pavlo signed a contract with the 95th separate airborne assault brigade. He took the position of senior gunner of the reconnaissance platoon. During the eight years of the war, he went through the hottest spots of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions: Sloviansk, Marinka, Debaltseve, Avdiivka, Zaitseve, Shchastia, Mayorsk, Sievierodonetsk, Shyrokyne, etc. In the fall of 2021, Pavlo went to carry out combat missions in the area of the Joint Forces Operation. He was supposed to return in April 2022. However, the full-scale war disrupted all plans. Thus, Kandahar's unit from the Donetsk region was redeployed to the Kharkiv direction. There the defender fought his last battle - near the village of Dovhenke near Izium. "In ordinary life, Pavlo was always bright, friendly, courageous, and fair. But in war he was merciless to the enemy. Friends and comrades-in-arms called him 'a scout from God', 'a real Viking', 'a born saboteur'," said the wife of the fallen Yulia. The hero was buried at the Forest Cemetery in Kyiv. At home, his wife and 2-year-old daughter Ksenia were waiting for him. Junior Sergeant Pavlo Romanenko was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage of the III degree.