Vitalii T. Hlazachov (Zmii)

Junior Sergeant Vitaliy Hlazachov (call sign Snake) was killed on September 17, 2023, in the area of the village of Mykolaivka in the Kherson region. He sustained fatal injuries as a result of artillery shelling during the defense of the Kozatsky Island. The following month, on October 27, the defender would have turned 29 years old. Vitaliy was a native of the city of Pavlohrad in the Dnipropetrovsk region. In 2009, he graduated from Pavlohrad Secondary School No. 19. In 2010-2013, he studied at the West Donbas Vocational Lyceum. Since 2014, he has been participating in the Anti-Terrorist Operation as part of the 25th Airborne Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. After being wounded in 2015, he was discharged from service and underwent a year of rehabilitation. He then worked in various fields, and for a long time was an administrator at the "Nova Poshta" postal service. At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the man joined the ranks of the 112th Separate Brigade of the Territorial Defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In 2023, he took the position of operator of the special forces group of the special forces company of the 11th Separate Rifle Battalion. "Brother, you are forever in our hearts! Now you are our guardian angel!" wrote Andriy Lototsky. "Eternal memory to you, Snake... A brother, a comrade, a son... A little troublemaker... He still had to live..." wrote Nataliya Bezuna. The hero was buried in the village of Makivka in the Kyiv region, where he lived with his family. Vitaliy is survived by his parents, sister, wife, and a son who was born 10 days before his father's death. Vitaliy Hlazachov was posthumously awarded the honorary badge of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine "Golden Cross" and the Order of Courage of the III degree.