Serhii H. Riazhentsev (Oper)

In the morning of August 24, 2014, the political officer of the 39th Territorial Defense Battalion, First Lieutenant Vitaliy Korovyakivskyi (commander of the checkpoint 39-04), discovered the absence of any communication with the outpost 39-05, which was located near the villages of Novodvirske and Mykhailivka. He reported this to the command, receiving an order to go to the site and find out why the outpost was not in contact. Around 14:00, Senior Lieutenant Vitaliy Korovyakivskyi, taking several soldiers with him, set off in a UAZ vehicle to the outpost 39-05. When the vehicle approached the destination, where the Ukrainian flag was flying, it was stopped and surrounded by Russian military personnel. It became clear why there was no communication with the "outpost." It had been captured by the enemy. After the capture of the outpost near Novodvirske, the Russians took over other outposts of the 39th Territorial Defense Battalion, almost without any resistance. Only during the attempt to seize the outpost 39-04 near Svitle was there a fight with the occupiers. At 17:30, from the north, an enemy column with equipment advanced directly from the field to outpost 39-04. Any communication suddenly disappeared. There was no way to warn of the attack or request assistance. Approaching within 400–500 meters, the enemies opened fire with a 30 mm automatic cannon from an infantry fighting vehicle and a 7.62 mm machine gun. The Russians immediately began firing at the only cannon at the outpost, the "Rapira," and the MAZ vehicle, which was the tow for the "Rapira." As a result of a large-caliber hit to the head, Valeriy Shmaliy was instantly killed. Almost immediately, Oleksandr Zhabinets was also killed. Serhiy Ryazhenets was seriously wounded. The soldiers opened fire in response. Oleksandr Pasechnik, with a hand-held anti-tank grenade launcher, hit and destroyed the infantry fighting vehicle that was second in the Russian column. Military serviceman Oleksandr Merzlenko (Mikhailich) also did not lose his composure, hitting the enemy infantry fighting vehicle with a grenade launcher, causing the tracks to fly off from the explosion. The defense of the outpost lasted about 3 hours. At 21:00, the Russians finally captured the outpost and finished off the seriously wounded Serhiy Ryazhenets. Some soldiers managed to hide for a while and observe the actions of the occupiers. At least the soldiers claim they personally saw how the enemy collected their dead, which numbered about 15. Later, the servicemen managed to retreat to the settlement of Novyi Svit, where they hid with local residents who provided the soldiers with first aid and helped them reach Volnovakha. Soldiers Yuriy Sahaydak, Volodymyr Yarovyi, and Volodymyr Shevchenko fought their way towards a farm, but there they were captured by Russian troops. Some remained at the outpost and were also captured by the Russians. Later, soldiers of the 39th Territorial Defense Battalion Sahaydak, Yarovyi, and Shevchenko, according to the testimonies of their comrades, died in captivity. Their bodies were found and identified only in 2015.