Valerii P. Zghonnyk (Batia)

Senior Soldier Valeriy Zgonnyk (call sign Batya) was killed on April 29, 2022 in Mariupol, Donetsk region. During the fighting, he sustained severe injuries to the abdominal area and underwent surgery. A few days later, the defender's heart stopped. He was 49 years old. Valeriy was from the village of Lyman, Kharkiv region. For 30 years, he lived with his family in Mariupol, Donetsk region. He worked as a minibus driver. In 2017, he signed a contract with the National Guard of Ukraine. He served as a driver in the Mariupol military garrison. Shortly before the full-scale invasion, Valeriy and his wife had COVID-19. Valeriy developed kidney complications. On February 17, he underwent surgery. When the war began, he was discharged home with a package of medicines. He could have left Mariupol for any hospital. But he collected all the medicines and went to his unit. He told his wife to leave with their son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter to another place and wait for him there. He removed his wedding ring and said, "You must live! You must live!" Valeriy's family left for another region. Valeriy called very rarely and was not very talkative. At one point, he confessed, "The hardest thing is to see how civilians and animals are dying, and I can't help at all." On May 2, they called and informed that Valeriy's heart could not withstand it. They said that on April 20, during the battles near Azovstal, he sustained a severe abdominal injury. He was operated on. But on April 29, his heart stopped. My beloved husband did not live to see the evacuation of the military by two weeks. We lived 22 happy years together. He was a bright, kind, hardworking person. A true family man. He enjoyed fishing and loved dogs very much. He had golden hands and beautified and put his apartment in order with his own hands, to rest in old age. I don't know who is there now. We are wanted by the occupiers. Shortly after my husband's death, I went to the military enlistment office to be mobilized. At 53 years old. I proved that I really needed to be there. And now I am a soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. My granddaughter says, "My grandfather is a hero, and grandma is a little bit too." Valeriy is survived by his wife, son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter. The warrior was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage of the III degree.