Viktor Ya. Penkovyi (Ruda)

44-year-old Lieutenant Colonel Viktor Penkovyi was killed on November 11, 2022, in a battle with the occupiers near the village of Troitske in the Donetsk region. He was a board technician for the Mi-8 helicopter. During a combat mission to strike the enemy, his helicopter was shot down by an enemy MANPADS. Viktor was born in the village of Chovnovytsia in the Vinnytsia region. He decided to become a military man in his childhood. In 1995, he entered the Kyiv Institute of Air Force on the specialty "Technical Operation of Aircraft and Aircraft Engines." Later, he graduated from the State Flight Academy of Ukraine by correspondence. In 1998, he took the position of senior technician in a maintenance unit in one of the aviation brigades of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Vinnytsia. He later became the head of the technical operation department. For the last 20 years, he was a board aviation technician and instructor for the helicopter unit. From 2012 to 2015, he participated in a UN mission in Liberia. He fought in the ATO / JFO, completing many successful combat flights. Since the beginning of the full-scale war, he participated in combat operations in the Donetsk region. As part of the Mi-8 crew, Lieutenant Colonel Penkovyi successfully completed 26 combat flights, destroying occupiers. "His life was filled with love—for family, friends, and comrades, for work, and for his native land. He was endlessly in love with the sky, flew and repaired equipment, taught and learned, loved and was loved... He had an excellent qualification as a master and mastered the types of helicopters Mi-8, Mi-9, and Viktor Penkovyi's total flight time was 2235 hours. The aviator died as an unyielding hero—with faith in Victory, defending the Motherland from murderous occupiers, protecting the peace of his loved ones, safeguarding the lives of future generations," said Viktor's comrade Roman. The defender was buried at the Glory Alley of the Sabariv Cemetery in Vinnytsia. Viktor is survived by his wife, two children, and other relatives. The hero was posthumously awarded the Orders of "For Courage" of the III and II degrees.