Volodymyr P. Yukhymenko

47-year-old senior sergeant Volodymyr Yukhymenko was killed on September 1, 2023, while in Russian captivity in Mordovia. The warrior, together with his comrades-in-arms, bravely defended the area near the town of Tokmak in the Zaporizhzhia region, where he was taken prisoner by the enemy on April 4, 2022. Volodymyr was born in the village of Kopystyryn in the Vinnytsia region. He graduated from the Chernyatyn Technical School, obtaining a specialty in beekeeping. In civilian life, he worked as a security guard for the Ukrainian Railways. The warrior joined the defense of Ukraine in 2015, serving in the ranks of the Ukrainian Air Force during the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) / Joint Forces Operation (JFO). A few days before the full-scale invasion, he was transferred to the Zaporizhzhia direction, where he held the position of commander of the guard platoon's guard section of the 143rd guard company of the 137th Joint Logistics Support Center. For his service, he was awarded certificates and letters of gratitude. "When I asked him not to go to war a second time, as we had seen how much Volodymyr had to go through during the ATO, he replied: 'You don't understand why I'm there? I'm there so they won't be here, so your son won't go to war,'" said the warrior's civilian wife, Yevheniia Lastovets'ka. Volodymyr planted a large orchard near his parental home and loved working in it. He also loved beekeeping and had many hives. A year before the full-scale invasion, as if sensing his end, he gave all his bee colonies to his godfather, saying that if everything was fine, he would take them back. The words "courage" and "heroism" are about my husband. I don't know if there are others like him in the world," Yevheniia said. The defender was buried on June 6, 2024, in the cemetery No. 1 in his native village. Volodymyr is survived by his mother, wife, two daughters, and a son.