Viacheslav V. Baranetskyi (Baron)

Lieutenant Vyacheslav Baranetsky (call sign Baron) was killed on September 24, 2022, while performing a combat mission near Avdiivka in the Donetsk region. The officer sustained fatal injuries as a result of enemy artillery shelling. The defender was 31 years old. Vyacheslav was born in Odesa. After school, he entered the Odesa Law Academy. He worked as a district inspector. He then tried his hand at many professions. For a time, he worked in Europe as a truck driver. He was a person who never sat still. He was always doing something, planning, setting new goals. He was a caring father and loved spending time with his daughter. In 2014, he participated in the Anti-Terrorist Operation in Donbas. He was awarded the President of Ukraine's distinction "For Participation in the Anti-Terrorist Operation." During the full-scale Russian invasion, Vyacheslav was a platoon commander in the 38th Separate Assault Battalion of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. "My husband was loving, caring, gentle, brave, fair, and sincere. He was a wonderful father to our daughter. He adored her; Lizunka was everything to him. We also dreamed of having a son, but it didn't happen. Slava loved life and knew how to fill it with meaning; he dreamed of changing the world for the better. For me, he was always a hero," said the officer's wife, Indira. The serviceman was buried in the village of Klembyvka in the Vinnytsia region, where he lived with his family. Vyacheslav is survived by his wife and daughter.