Vitalii V. Pecherskyi (Pechenih)

36-year-old Senior Sergeant Vitaliy Pecherskyi (call sign Pechenyg) was killed in action on July 19, 2022, in the Stepanivka Dolyna village area of Mykolaiv Oblast. In a battle with the occupiers, he came under enemy fire from the Grad MLRS and received fatal injuries. Vitaliy was born in the city of Kodima, Odesa Oblast. He graduated from Kodima Professional Technical Agrarian College No. 45, specializing as a mechanic-driver. In 2016-2019, as part of the 131st Separate Reconnaissance Battalion, he participated in the ATO/JFO. He fought in Donetsk and Luhansk Oblasts. From 2020, he worked at the Odesa Sea Commercial Port and was involved in bridge repair. In his free time, he loved to fish. With the start of the full-scale war, Vitaliy, having combat experience, was voluntarily mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. This time, he fought against the enemy in the ranks of the 28th Separate Mechanized Brigade named after the Knights of the Winter Campaign. He held the position of mortar commander in the mortar battery. During his entire service, Vitaliy was awarded distinctions: "ATO Participant", "Combat Action Participant", "Reconnaissance Cross", "For Sacrifice and Love for Ukraine". "He was a loving father. Many people respected him for his honesty, reliability, and loyalty to his word, and he was also a brave man and a patriot. Perhaps he wouldn't have been mobilized after being wounded in the ATO, but he himself went to the draft board on the first day of the full-scale invasion and said: 'I have something and someone to defend.' In the past - a paratrooper, a scout. He knew that there, on the front line, people with his experience were needed like never before," his daughter Olexandra said. The warrior was buried on the Alley of Glory in his hometown. The deceased defender left behind his parents, wife, daughter, son, relatives, friends, and comrades. The Kodima community renamed one of the city's streets to Vitaliy Pecherskyi Street.