Roman S. Romanenko (Bich)

On August 10, 2019, in the Svitlodarsk Bulge, during a combat mission, 25-year-old junior lieutenant Roman Romanenko was killed by a landmine explosion. In the last seven months of his life, Roman, who had the call sign Bich, defended his homeland directly on the front lines. A native of Dnipro, he donned the uniform of a soldier in the separate special forces unit of the National Guard of Ukraine "Azov" nearly 3.5 years ago, where he held the position of a sniper. For his professionalism (his bullet for the enemy was usually the last), he was repeatedly commended by the command. A persistent and responsible fighter, Roman rose from a soldier to an officer — shortly before his death, he was awarded the military rank of junior lieutenant. A brave warrior and a reliable combat comrade, Roman was among those who, in March 2019, saved the life of a wounded comrade during a combat operation, the commander of the sniper group. Few manage to make many friends, but junior lieutenant Romanenko was one of those people — countless fighters in his unit considered it an honor to be friends and fight alongside him. Roman did not dwell on the war, loved life, and had diverse interests — he enjoyed traveling, was interested in photography, and practiced boxing. When junior lieutenant Romanenko was killed, his comrades attempted three times to retrieve his body from the battlefield, but the enemy opened heavy fire on the "Azov" soldiers each time. Under their cover, the militants took the mutilated body of the guardsman. Disregarding all written and unwritten laws of war, the separatists posted photos of the deceased online, spreading false information about his death, and only after three days, as a result of a pre-planned exchange of the dead, was he finally returned to his own. The remains of their mercenary, previously abandoned to die near the settlement of Zaitseve, the separatists did not want to retrieve. Junior lieutenant Roman Romanenko was buried with military honors in his native Dnipro. Farewells to the brave serviceman were attended not only by comrades but also by hundreds of townspeople. "A worthy person, a combat officer, an experienced warrior who was capable of making balanced decisions on the battlefield has undoubtedly perished. I can only say one thing: for their disgraceful treatment of our fighter, the enemy will pay with blood!" said one of his combat comrades with the call sign Redis, while bidding farewell to Roman.