Serhii A. Herasymenko (Bashkir)

Sergeant Serhii Herasymenko (call sign Bashkir) was killed on February 25, 2023, while carrying out a combat mission near the village of Dibrova in the Luhansk region. A month earlier, on January 17, the defender turned 40 years old. Serhii was a native of the village of Pyatka in the Zhytomyr region. He studied at the Pyatkivska secondary school. In 1997, after completing the 9th grade, he entered the Zhytomyr Vocational Lyceum. Then he worked as a high-altitude worker in construction. Before the invasion, he lived with his family in Vinnytsia. He was the head of the YUDIS company, which was engaged in the arrangement of concrete and polymer floors. He devoted his free time to his family, in particular, he loved to spend time with his daughter. At the beginning of the full-scale war, the man remained in Vinnytsia, helping with the transportation of humanitarian aid and medicines. Later, he moved with his family to his native village, where he took an active part in ensuring public order. And on August 10, 2022, he voluntarily joined the ranks of the 81st Separate Airmobile Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. "Serhii Anatoliiovych could not stand aside from the events taking place in the most difficult time for our state. The bloody war cut short the life of a young man, a sensitive person, a patriot. He was killed at the hands of the aggressor, defending his native Ukraine," said the deceased's loved ones. The paratrooper was buried in his native village. Serhii is survived by his sisters, wife, daughter, other relatives, friends, and comrades-in-arms.