Petro M. Kozaruk (Batia)

Born on May 24, 1977, in the village of Turka, Kolomyia district, Ivano-Frankivsk region. In 1992, he graduated from the 9th grade of the secondary school in the village of Turka. He worked as a laborer in the collective farm named after Stepan Melnychuk in the village of Turka. From May 24, 1995, to December 23, 1996, he served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, called up by the Kolomyia military commissariat of Ivano-Frankivsk region. After the army, he worked at various enterprises in the village of Turka, and from 2001, he took seasonal jobs within Ukraine. Since 2003, he lived in the village of Raygorodok, Berdychiv district, Zhytomyr region. From April 24, 2015, to July 4, 2016, he served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine under partial mobilization. He served in the anti-aircraft division of the 57th separate motorized infantry brigade of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (military unit field post V4533, Kirovohrad city (now Kropyvnytskyi)). During 2015-2016, he participated in the anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine. He served in the area of the city of Horlivka, Donetsk region. From December 1, 2016, he served under contract in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He served as the commander of the ZU-22 anti-aircraft gun based on GAZ-66 of the 72nd separate mechanized brigade of the Operational Command "North" of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (military unit A2167 (field post V0849), Bila Tserkva, Kyiv region). He again participated in the anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine. Call sign "Batya." On March 26, 2017, during a mortar shelling of Ukrainian positions at a checkpoint near the city of Avdiivka, Donetsk region, one of the shells hit the dugout where the servicemen were located. As a result of the explosion, Senior Sergeant Petro Kozaruk, Soldier Serhiy Mosiychuk, and Soldier Oleksiy Tymchenko were killed, and three other fighters were wounded. On March 29, 2017, he was buried in the cemetery of the village of Raygorodok, Berdychiv district, Zhytomyr region.