Serhii O. Zaviriukha (Skif)

Sergeant Serhii Zaviruha (call sign Skif) was killed on March 14, 2022, in a battle with the occupiers near the settlement of Kostiantynivka in the Mykolaiv region. He did not live a little over a month until his 27th birthday. Until June 2023, he was considered missing. Serhii was born and lived in Dolynska, Kirovohrad region. He graduated from school No. 3. Then he entered the Kryvyi Rih Aviation College, but did not finish it, as he decided that he had chosen the wrong profession. In 2015, he was drafted into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. After 11 months of service, he signed a contract and went to defend Ukraine. He fought as part of the 10th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade, holding the position of operator-gunner of an anti-aircraft installation. He participated in the ATO in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. He was awarded decorations and gratitude. After the end of the contract, he returned home. He worked for himself: he kept a beehive, sowed sunflowers and wheat. He had a passion for working on the land since childhood. He loved fishing and hunting. He was interested in history. He went on excavations, collected antique things and coins, studied their origin, and collected them. On the second day of the full-scale war, on February 25, 2022, Serhii was mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. His whole family saw him off to the war. The man hugged his wife and his little son tightly. He told him that he had to go, and 2-year-old Maksym shouted: "Dad, no! Dad, no." The child seemed to feel that he was seeing his father for the last time. But Serhii had to go, otherwise he couldn't. This time he served in the 137th battalion of the 35th Separate Marine Brigade named after Rear Admiral Mykhailo Ostrohradskyy. He was the commander of the self-propelled anti-aircraft installation 23-4 "Shilka". "On March 14, 2022, there was a terrible battle, the guys repelled the attack on Mykolaiv, they were surrounded, many was killed and were taken prisoner. Part of the guys got out of the encirclement and returned to the barracks, which were hit by a missile strike by the Russians on March 18. Many people were killed... My son was nowhere to be found, everyone thought he had been taken prisoner. Time passed, and there was no information. We turned everywhere - all in vain. But hope did not leave us, we believed that our Serhii was alive and soon some information would appear... For a year and three months, we searched for our warrior. On June 20, 2023, I was informed about the DNA match, the ground slipped from under my feet... They found my son in a mass grave. Many questions, but no answers... At the scene of the battle, his car was there, but there was no body, no personal belongings, so they thought he was in captivity," said mother Valentyna Zaviruha. "My son was handsome, kind, sincere, devoted, the best! He always smiled, his smile inspired. He always had everything good, even if I noticed that something was wrong, he would answer: "Mom, everything is fine." I am grateful to God for giving me such a son: courageous and unbreakable. When we saw him off to the war, I said: "Son, maybe you won't go? You have little Maksymchyk, look how he's crying?". And he in response: "Mom, when my son grows up and asks me where I was when the war started, what will I tell him? I have to go... I have to protect you all and our Ukraine." I realized that my son is a patriot, devoted to our people, our state, our Ukraine. My son is my pride and my sorrow. I want everyone to remember at what price our freedom, our independence, our Ukrainian land is given." On June 25, 2023, Serhii was buried in the Alley of Glory of the cemetery in his hometown. At home, he was awaited by his mother, brother Oleksandr, sister Natalia, wife Valeriia with son Maksym, two grandmothers, and other relatives.