Viktor L. Kriuchkov (Lahuna)

On November 21, 2015, in the area of the anti-terrorist operation in Eastern Ukraine, 23-year-old Viktor Kryuchkov was killed. He was from a large family, had three sisters and a brother, and was born in the village of Verbalozy in the Vinnytsia region. For the last 8 years, Viktor rented accommodation and lived with his family in Kozyatyn. After school, he trained as an electrician and dreamed of a military career in the special forces regiment of the National Guard of Ukraine "Jaguar." The young man went to war as a volunteer and spent over a year in the ATO zone. He initially served in the "Aidar" battalion and was wounded during the battles near Ilovaisk, where only he survived out of 15 people. However, he could not stay at home while his comrades were dying in the East of the country. After receiving treatment and undergoing rehabilitation, he returned to the ATO zone as a contract serviceman in the "Donbas-Ukraine" battalion (military unit V-2612) with the rank of junior sergeant. At the end of October, he came home on leave, comforting his mother that he would soon be demobilized on December 21 and would return home for good. He planned to find a job, buy his own housing, and marry his beloved. Exactly one month before his demobilization, Viktor Kryuchkov was killed while performing his official duty in the ATO zone, detonating a mine near Stanytsia Luhanska along the Bakhmut highway. The memorial service took place on November 24 at the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Kyiv Patriarchate in Vernyhorodka. Leaders of the district and city, residents of Kozyatyn, and inhabitants of the villages of Vernyhorodka and Verbalozy came to bid farewell to the hero who gave his life defending Ukraine's independence, accompanying the soldier on his final journey to the cemetery. The young fighter was buried to the sounds of a military salute.