Yevhen O. Bondarenko (Zhora)

39-year-old Senior Sergeant Yevhen Bondarenko (call sign Zhora) was killed on July 4, 2022 near the village of Bohorodychne in the Donetsk region. While returning from a mission, he was evacuating wounded comrades. When he went out for the last one - the commander, he came under enemy fire. The injuries proved fatal. Yevhen was from the city of Kharkiv. He mastered the profession of a builder in a vocational school and worked in his specialty, also doing repairs. He was involved in sports, including MMA. He was interested in survival in various conditions, was fascinated by electricity, perpetual motion, Arduino and gardening. During the full-scale Russian invasion, the man fought for his country in the ranks of the 80th separate airborne assault brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He was a machine gunner. "Yevhen was a warrior since childhood. He dreamed of the French Foreign Legion. He was constantly learning, doing sports. He did not drink or smoke. He was a wonderful father and the best husband, reliable, brave. The soul of the company and a jack-of-all-trades," his wife Svitlana said. Yevhen was buried in the Field of Honorable Burials of the Lychakiv Cemetery in Lviv. The defender is survived by his mother, brother, sister, wife and children. The paratrooper was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage of the III degree.