Valerii P. Melnyk

Born on March 23, 1970, in the urban-type settlement of Sutysky, Tovriv District, Vinnytsia Oblast. Graduated from high school. Served mandatory military service in the ranks of the Armed Forces of the USSR. On August 13, 2014, he was mobilized by the Vinnytsia Regional Military Commissariat to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He served as a sapper in the 9th company of the 30th Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (military unit A0409, city of Novograd-Volynskyi, Zhytomyr Oblast). Since the fall of 2014, he served at checkpoints in the Kherson region on the administrative border with the occupied Autonomous Republic of Crimea by Russian troops. During his service at the checkpoints, Senior Sergeant Melnyk developed illnesses without proper treatment. On December 4, 2014, he was hospitalized. Initially, he received treatment at the hospital in Novograd-Volynskyi, Zhytomyr Oblast, and then at the Kyiv Military Hospital. The serviceman was diagnosed with bilateral pneumonia and stomach cancer. Doctors fought for Valerii Melnyk's life, but their efforts proved futile. On February 10, 2015, he died after a prolonged treatment. On February 13, 2015, he was buried in the cemetery of the urban-type settlement of Sutysky, Tovriv District, Vinnytsia Oblast.