Serhii I. Smoliak

Sergeant Serhii Smoliak of the police was killed on July 24, 2023 in the area of the village of Klishchiyivka in the Donetsk region. In the battle with the enemy, he received a fatal wound during a mortar shelling. On November 30, the defender would have turned 29 years old. Serhii was from the village of Komarhород in the Vinnytsia region. After completing secondary education, he worked for some time at the Odesa railway. He then graduated from the Odesa State University of Internal Affairs. He served in the police force. In his free time, he loved to read and also devoted a lot of time to sports, training in gyms. During the full-scale Russian invasion, the man fought against the occupiers as part of the united assault brigade of the National Police "Fury". He was the commander of a platoon in the assault regiment "Tsunami". "My son was a courageous, polite and kind person. Honest and fair, sometimes even too much. He always wanted to feed all his friends because he knew how to cook deliciously. He drove well. He wanted to change the world for the better. He always said that you need to start with yourself. He united people and comrades-in-arms around him. He had leadership qualities. And even before his death, having received a wound, he did not leave his comrades-in-arms and continued the battle," said Alla Smoliak. The policeman was buried in the village of Vapniarka in the Vinnytsia region. Serhii is survived by his mother and grandmother. The defender was posthumously awarded the "Cross of the Brave" decoration of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.