Valerii O. Karpenko (Karpo)

25-year-old sapper Valeriy Karpenko (call sign Karpo) was killed on September 21, 2022 while carrying out a combat mission near the village of Velyki Prokhody in the Kharkiv region. The soldier suffered fatal injuries as a result of the dropping of an unknown explosive device from an enemy drone. Valeriy was born in the city of Okhtyrka, Sumy region. He studied at the Okhtyrka gymnasium. He then graduated from the Polish university WSPA in Lublin. After receiving his diploma, he returned to Ukraine and voluntarily went to serve. After training, he participated in the ATO in Donbas. He was awarded the Order of Courage of the III degree. During the full-scale Russian invasion, Valeriy was a serviceman of the 91st separate Okhtyrka regiment of operational support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He held the position of commander of the vehicle section of the support platoon of the engineer-sapper battalion. "Valeriy was an extremely kind, intelligent, strong and fearless person. The best brother and son in the world, a good friend and comrade-in-arms, who was never afraid of anything and did not hide behind the backs of others. He had big plans for the future, which he did not have time to implement in his 25 years. He did not have a wife and children, but he had a big heart..." - said the deceased's sister. The defender was buried on the Alley of Glory in his native Okhtyrka. Valeriy is survived by his mother Halyna, father Oleh and younger sister Anastasia. Posthumously, Junior Sergeant Valeriy Karpenko was awarded the Order of Courage of the II degree.