Roman V. Bondarenko (Hrek)

Sergeant Roman Bondarenko was killed on February 3, 2023, while carrying out a combat mission near the village of Zaliznianske in the Donetsk region. The defender was 39 years old. Roman was from the city of Sumy. He studied at secondary school No. 20. Then he obtained a higher legal education at the local university. After the army, he served in the ranks of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. He was an operative investigator in the Zarichny District Police Department in Sumy. From the first days of the full-scale invasion, the man joined the Sumy Territorial Defense Forces to protect his hometown, and in the summer of 2022, he signed a contract with the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He served in the 30th separate mechanized brigade named after Prince Konstantin Ostrozky. He held the position of sniper-shooter, squad commander. "Roma was a real man, strong, brave, cheerful, sincere. His daughter was the main person in his life. They were very similar. He loved his city, where he was born and raised, so he did not hesitate to defend it and his loved ones," said the ex-wife of the deceased, Yulia. Roman was buried in the Alley of Glory of the Baranivsky cemetery in his hometown. He is survived by his parents, daughter, relatives, close friends, and comrades-in-arms.