Valerii V. Symonenko (Did)

59-year-old soldier Valeriy Symonenko (call sign Grandfather) was killed on June 4, 2023 near the village of Chuykovka in the Sumy region. Together with his comrades-in-arms, he fell into an ambush of the enemy's sabotage and reconnaissance group. In the battle, the defender received a fatal head injury. Valeriy was born in the settlement of Vitymskyy (Russia). However, he lived in the Zhytomyr region. He acquired three professions: a 3rd class tractor driver-mechanic at Malyn SPTU No. 6, a chemical fiber forming operator at Zhytomyr SPTU No. 8, and a 3rd class manual electric welder at Kyiv SPTU No. 27. He worked as a general laborer, electric welder, and security guard. In 2017-2018, he participated in the ATO / JFO. He fought in the Luhansk region. In peacetime, he loved quiet hunting, fishing, was interested in numismatics, and adored spending time with his beloved dachshund Bailey. During the full-scale invasion, the man again took up the defense of his country from the occupiers. Initially, he served in the Zhytomyr region, and later became a fighter of the 43rd separate rifle battalion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In November 2022, he was wounded in the Bakhmut direction, and after rehabilitation, he returned to his comrades-in-arms and took up the defense of the borders. During his entire service, Valeriy was awarded the distinctions "For participation in the anti-terrorist operation", "War Veteran", "Defender of the Fatherland", "Strong in spirit", "For wounds", "Blood for Ukraine". "Unfortunately, dad saw his little granddaughter very little and always dreamed of spending more time with her in the future, composing little poems for her on the go. He constantly repeated that young guys need to live, and he had already seen a bit of the world, he always went first into battle. The bright memory of my hero will live on as long as we and our children-grandchildren-great-grandchildren are alive. During his lifetime, dad had countless friends, was the soul of the company, easily found a common language with people, joked a lot, and was respected by his comrades-in-arms, understood many things. He was very hard to bear the loss of his comrades-in-arms. This is my role model, my pride, my life. I'm proud," said his daughter Oleksandra. The hero was buried in the village of Potiivka in the Zhytomyr region, where he lived with his family. Valeriy left behind a wife, two daughters, sons-in-law, and a granddaughter.