Serhii V. Deineko (Zubnik)

Soldier Serhii Deineko (call sign Zubnik) was killed on July 20, 2023 in the area of the village of Stepove, Zaporizhzhia region. While carrying out a combat mission, he received fatal injuries during enemy mortar shelling. In September, the defender would have turned 40 years old. Serhii was born and lived in Kamin-Kashyrskyi, Volyn region. After finishing the 9th grade, he entered a vocational school and obtained the qualifications of painter, mason, and plasterer. He then graduated from the Rokytne Medical College, obtaining the qualification of a dentist. He spent all his student years on stage, as he had studied at an art school in childhood and had a good voice. Lecturers and students affectionately called him "our Nightingale". After graduation, he began working at the outpatient clinic in the village of Velykyi Obzyr. He was remembered by colleagues and patients as a responsible, caring, accessible, and always smiling specialist. He knew how to find an approach to everyone. Later, he continued his work in the village of Huta Borovenska, where he gained great respect. In his free time, he loved to pick mushrooms and go fishing. Whenever possible, he went to the forest and could walk for hours in search of mushrooms or spend time with his godparents and friends near the water bodies, waiting for a bite. During the full-scale war, the man joined the ranks of the defenders. He was a rifleman of the 2nd separate rifle battalion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Initially, he was in the security company, and in December 2022 he went to the front line. Together with his comrades-in-arms, he defended the Zaporizhzhia region. "After the sudden death of his father, Serhii became a support for his mother, as they lived together. He was always smiling, positive, sincere, generous, and never refused to help. He was responsible in his work, because he loved what he did. He had a special tenderness towards my children, as he did not have his own. Even being at "zero", he tried to communicate with them via video link on every occasion. These were warm conversations about the day, school, friends, hobbies, cats - he wanted to know everything that was happening in their lives, while he himself was defending thousands of kilometers away. He had the same conversations with all of us, but he did not tell us about his own difficult moments, trying to protect us from unnecessary worries. He believed that after the victory he would create his own family. We all believed in it, but it was not meant to be," said the deceased's sister. Serhii was buried in the Alley of Glory of the central cemetery in his hometown. At home, he was awaited by his mother Halyna Ivanivna, sister Valentyna, relatives, and friends.