Serhii I. Kovieshnikov (Biriuk)

According to friends, Serhiy Ivanovych is Russian by nationality and had relatives in Russia. In 1980, he graduated from Zhytomyr Secondary School No. 7, and later was drafted for compulsory military service, which he served in a unit of the naval infantry of the Black Sea Fleet, stationed in Sevastopol. He later graduated from the sergeant school of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the USSR (on Russky Island), dedicating his entire life to military service. After being discharged to the reserve, he worked as a guard at one of the private security companies in Zhytomyr. With the onset of Russia's military aggression against Ukraine, 51-year-old Serhiy Koveshnikov applied to the military commissariat requesting to be called up for military service, but due to the age restrictions in place at that time, he was denied, so he decided to volunteer for the "Donbas" battalion. Thus, in May 2014, he signed a contract to serve in the military reserve of the National Guard of Ukraine and took the position of platoon instructor officer.