Volodymyr E. Chaikovskyi (Diadia Vova)

Volunteer Volodymyr Chaikovskyi (call sign Uncle Vova) was killed on April 30, 2022, while repelling an enemy assault in the area of the village of Velyka Novosilka in the Donetsk region. While carrying out a combat mission, he suffered a fatal shrapnel wound. On April 4, the defender turned 64 years old. Volodymyr was a resident of Kyiv. He graduated from the National Technical University of Ukraine "Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute", obtaining a degree in electronics engineering. In civilian life, he was a certified mechanic for Toyota industrial equipment, working as a private entrepreneur. He was one of the few who had international certification, receiving training and advanced qualifications directly from Toyota (Japan). In his free time, he loved to read books and go fishing. He was a beekeeper and had his own apiary. He was interested in technology and electronics, and had a talent for invention. He could talk about anything in the world, from human history to nuclear physics. He could repair anything. Since 2014, he has been involved in volunteer activities, repairing damaged military equipment at his own expense in Marinka, Avdiivka, and other front-line cities. From the first day of the full-scale Russian invasion, the man stood up to defend the state. He joined the 25th battalion of the Kyiv Territorial Defense. He participated in the defense of the capital, carrying out combat missions in the Kyiv region. After the enemy was driven away from the capital, he and his unit went to defend the eastern front. The call sign Volodymyr was given by his comrades-in-arms, as he was like a father to his unit. He taught the younger ones, helped them both in deed and with advice. He treated his comrades like sons, had authority, and was always at the forefront. "Unfortunately, the war takes the best... Not just my father, but my best friend, has was killed. I remember our last phone conversation. He told me how on the way to the Donetsk region, passing through Zaporizhzhia, they had stopped to deliver gifts to the children evacuated from Mariupol. 'Son, I've never seen so many little children sitting silently and afraid, flinching from loud voices and the creaking of doors. Can you imagine what they've been through? It shouldn't be this way...' I heard my father's voice tremble for the first time in my life, a person I thought was made of steel. He was always my hero and the main authority in my life, a man of principles based on truth and justice. The person who could always give the right advice and help in any life situation. He was killed as a true man, a warrior, with a weapon in his hands. I will always remember him and how real men should act," said the son of the fallen, Oleksandr. The warrior was buried on the Alley of Heroes of the Lychakiv Cemetery in Kyiv.