Serhii M. Kravchenko

Sergiy Mykolayovych Kravchenko was born on March 16, 1975, in the city of Oleksandriya, Kirovohrad region, in a family of a serviceman. His father, Mykola Vasilyovych, served in the same unit where Sergiy later served. In childhood, Sergiy was fond of assembling model aircraft. After graduating from Oleksandriya Secondary School No. 2 in August 1992, he entered the Kyiv Institute of Air Forces, which he graduated from (under the program of Vasylkiv Military Aviation Technical School, specialty "Operation and Repair of Aircraft and Aircraft Engines") on June 24, 1995. He subsequently served as an onboard aviation technician in the 51st Separate Helicopter Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine (from February 2004 — the Guard Aviation Base of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine). In September 2010, he was appointed senior onboard technician-instructor of the helicopter squadron of the Guard Aviation Base of the Internal Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. Oleg Don, a comrade-in-arms: "If I were to briefly characterize Sergiy Mykolayovych Kravchenko, I would call him the soul of the team. Always smiling, good-natured, open. No celebration was complete without Sergiy. A witty joke, an interesting story, a good toast. He was sincerely loved by our entire team. The guys from his unit say they cannot get used to the fact that Sergiy is not around. Sometimes, while working on the equipment, it seems that he will come up, pat you on the shoulder, and say his 'Everything will be fine'… Sergiy Mykolayovych, as a highly qualified specialist, was part of the crews that performed the most complex and responsible tasks. For instance, in May 2008, he participated in joint exercises of the anti-terrorist special units of the military formations of Ukraine in Crimea, near Mount Kizil-Tash. The crew completed the task with 'excellent' results. Since 2010, as part of the crew, Captain Sergiy Kravchenko conducted flights for the deployment of special operations groups during the training of anti-terrorist units in the bays of Balaklava and New World, at the training grounds of 'New Petrivtsi', 'Shyrokyi Lan', and others." Colonel Hennadiy Pobivanets, commander of the Guard Aviation Base of the National Guard of Ukraine in 2014: "In May 2014, before the flight to the ATO zone, the issue of selecting a professionally trained onboard technician for the Mi-8 crew became urgent. Sergiy volunteered to go on the mission, even though it was not his turn. But as the most experienced onboard technician-instructor, he understood all the dangers and risks and could not allow his comrades, whose level of training and experience still needed improvement, to sit in the helicopter cockpit…".