Serhii M. Kazmirenko (Kucheriavyi)

Senior Sergeant Serhii Kazmirenko (call sign Kucheriavyi) was killed on July 3, 2022 during combat operations in the area of the settlement of Bilohirivka in Luhansk region. He was considered missing in action for almost 1.5 years, until finally after a lengthy search and numerous examinations, his wife found him buried among unknown heroes at the Krasnopilskyi cemetery in Dnipro. The defender remained forever 42 years old. Serhii was born and lived in Cherkasy. He studied at school No. 20. Then he obtained the profession of an electric gas welder at the local vocational school No. 20. In 1998-1999 he served in the military. He worked at various enterprises in his profession, with his last job being at the housing and utilities department. In 2004 he got married. He was fond of fishing, loved music. He was engaged in shooting, also won awards in races on yawls. On the first day of the full-scale invasion, the man joined the ranks of the local Territorial Defense Forces, and on March 3, 2022 became a serviceman of the 20th separate rifle battalion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He was the senior sergeant of the company. He stood defending Cherkasy and Kaniv, and later liberated Luhansk and Donetsk regions. "Serhii was always an honest, fair and good patriot of his country. He was a good person, could rally like-minded people around him. He always had his own opinion. The best father and husband. He could have not been drafted to defend the Motherland, but since he served in the airborne troops, he always told me: 'Who, if not me?', 'How will I look my children in the eye that I did not protect them?'. Serhii promised to return with victory and always said: 'You just believe in me, my love!'. After what he saw during the defense of Sievierodonetsk, he said: 'God forbid they come to our city and do the same to it. That's why I'm defending my land.'. But it was not destined for him to return from the war... He was the best person in my life. He went to this war so that his children would live in a free country, under a peaceful and blue sky, and they would not be ashamed of their father. Because we live on our God-given land... And we will not give it to anyone... I believe in our victory so that his death will not be in vain," said the wife of the fallen warrior, Alona. The defender was buried in the Alley of Heroes of the cemetery in Cherkasy. At home in Serhii, his wife Alona and three children - Polina, Kyrylo and Uliana - were waiting.