Valerii P. Senko (Holem)

26-year-old soldier Valerii Senko (call sign Golem) was killed on April 2, 2023 near the settlement of Khromove in the Donetsk region. While carrying out a combat mission, he received fatal injuries during an enemy grenade attack. Valerii was born in the city of Chernihiv. He graduated from school No. 35. In 2018, he received a bachelor's degree in "History" after completing the Faculty of Humanities at the National University of "Kyiv-Mohyla Academy". He was studying for a master's degree in "Public Relations". He was passionate about creating videos, filming clips, and advertisements. He was part of the team that organized the "Molodist" film festival. He was interested in history, philosophy, and other humanities. He was involved in sports: swimming from childhood, followed by contact sports, hand-to-hand combat, and Brazilian jiu-jitsu. He was a patriot and had many friends among the military. Anticipating a full-scale war, Valerii wanted to join the territorial defense forces. On February 24, 2022, he turned 25 years old. He repeatedly went to military recruitment offices, but was refused. He was waiting for his close friend from the Azov regiment to be able to take him to his unit. But that friend was killed in mid-March. Without giving up his desire to defend his homeland with weapons in hand, the man joined the Right Sector in April 2022, which later became part of the Armed Forces of Ukraine as the 67th Separate Mechanized Brigade. Initially, Valerii was in a mortar crew, but he always wanted to be in the assault troops, in the infantry, and eventually achieved his goal. He held the position of a mortar man, participated in battles in the eastern direction, and was a participant in the Kharkiv counteroffensive. When he became an assault trooper, he held the last "road of life" to Bakhmut. "We will always remember Valerii as honest, intelligent, kind, and talented. He had a great sense of humor. He gave himself to the cause completely. His creative path was just beginning, and we are all sure that he would have created many incredible things. For us and for the whole country, he is a hero who gave his life for our freedom and future," said his classmates. The hero was buried in the Yatsevo cemetery in his native Chernihiv. He is survived by his parents, an older sister, two younger brothers, a beloved girlfriend, and many friends and comrades-in-arms.