Serhii M. Pavlichenko (Bronia)

Major Serhii Pavlichenko (call sign Bronya) was killed on the night of July 29, 2022, in Olenivka, Donetsk region, when the Russian army blew up a barracks with Ukrainian prisoners of war. His comrades-in-arms said he was at the epicenter of the explosion. Serhii was 34 years old. He was born in Prymorsk, Zaporizhzhia region. He was a lawyer by education. In peacetime, he worked in the executive service. And since the beginning of the war, in 2014, he was one of the first to join the ranks of the Azov special purpose detachment. He was the commander of the repair company. The defender's wife, Rusudana Pavlichenko, says that the ideology of Azov, namely the unity of comrades-in-arms, modern views on military affairs, sincerity and dedication in the love for the Motherland, were close to her husband's heart. "I saw how he realized his views on life, there was an understanding that he was in his place, where he came at the call of his soul and heart. During his service, he took part in the Shyrokyne offensive operation, in the battles in Marinka, Krasnohorivka, on the Svitlodarsk arc," the wife said. Serhii met the full-scale invasion in Urzuf. Then there was the defense of Mariupol and captivity in Russia. Rusudana recalls that the news of the order to surrender evoked a wave of experiences, doubts, and reflections. However, Serhii reassured his wife that this was an honorable captivity, that there were guarantees of their stay in it, and that they would certainly be exchanged. "His last messages were about dreams of taking his son to the first grade. And also how he loves us endlessly, how he misses his parents, how he constantly struggles with the feeling of hunger, how he dreams of a spoonful of sugar..." the warrior's wife added. On May 25, 2023, a farewell ceremony for the defender took place at the Kyiv crematorium, and two days later his ashes were buried in Cherkasy, where the Pavlichenko family has lived since the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Serhii Pavlichenko is survived by his wife, daughter, and son.