Viktor A. Tolstoi (Baryha)

Junior Sergeant Viktor Tolstoy (call sign Bariga) was killed on June 7, 2023 near the village of Olgivske, Zaporizhzhia region. While performing his duties, he sustained fatal injuries during a hostile air strike with a guided bomb. Two months prior, on April 16, the soldier had turned 20 years old. Viktor was born in the village of Hrushyne, Kharkiv region. He graduated from the local school. He was active and engaged in sports: football, volleyball, basketball, and tennis. He loved fishing. He worked in construction and was an expeditor at the "Ekipazh" company. At the end of 2021, he was drafted into the National Guard of Ukraine. During the full-scale war, the young man served in the 23rd separate brigade of public order protection "Khortytsia". He held the position of the head of the military detail (squad leader) of the patrol platoon of the patrol company of the patrol battalion. "Vitya was a motivated, persistent, courageous, and desperate warrior. He dreamed of raising the Ukrainian flag over the deoccupied Crimea. He read a lot. He wanted to become an experienced professional military," his mother said. Viktor was buried in his native village. At home, he was awaited by his mother Oksana Viktorivna and sister Olena. The National Guardsman was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage of the III degree. In September 2023, a memorial plaque to the fallen graduate was installed on the facade of the Hrushynska school.