Yevhen S. Donets

Evgeny Stepanovich Donets was born on September 6, 1983, in the Orikhiv region of Zaporizhzhia Oblast. He worked for 12 years in the State Emergency Service. The treacherous Russian army took Evgeny's life on March 18, 2022. On that day, rescuers were dispatched to extinguish a fire that broke out due to an enemy rocket strike on a civilian facility in the village of Natalivka near Zaporizhzhia. "It was the first time the enemy carried out a repeated shelling. They knew that the rescuers had already arrived at the scene, knew that we were already extinguishing the fire, and struck… At that moment, everyone drew conclusions; everyone understood that this was not just a possibility, but it had already happened. Zhenya seemed to want to teach us to be even more cautious, but… When we receive a call and know that people are waiting for us, it doesn’t matter whether the air raid siren is sounding or the all-clear has already been given — we have to go…” says Yevhen, a rescuer who worked with Zhenya for 4 years in the same fire station. A friend of Evgeny, Mykola, serves in one of the fire stations in Zaporizhzhia. They are from the same settlement, worked together, and commuted to work in the same car for all 12 years. "It's impossible to get used to the fact that he is no longer here. He was a good person; as a specialist, he did his job 100%. Evgeny's father was a rescuer, and it was his dream to save people. When I learned that Zhenya was at the scene of the tragedy, I was in shock. Until the last moment, I believed that everything would be fine… This is a very heavy loss," shares the man. Professional, dedicated, reliable, sincere, and humane — this is how Evgeny Donets will remain in the memory of his loved ones and colleagues. For personal courage and selflessness shown in the defense of the state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, Evgeny Stepanovich Donets was posthumously awarded the Order of "For Courage" III degree.