Yevhen V. Mykhalchenko (Chechen)

23-year-old fighter Yevhen Mykhalchenko (call sign Chechen) was killed on August 31, 2023, while performing a combat mission in the Bakhmut area in the Donetsk region. The defender sustained fatal injuries as a result of enemy artillery shelling. Yevhen was born in the village of Oleksiivka, Donetsk region. From childhood, he lived in the settlement of Mezhova, Dnipropetrovsk region. There he studied at secondary school No. 2. Then he graduated from the Mezhivske vocational school. From an early age, he was interested in beekeeping, always trying to help on the apiary, and later earned a living from it. He also drilled wells with his stepfather. In his free time, he enjoyed learning something new. He loved to do things with his hands. He was fond of sports and played football. Since 2020, Yevhen has served in the arsenal protection battalion of the aviation means of destruction. During the full-scale war, in May 2023, he was transferred to the 3rd separate assault brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine at his own request. There he held the position of a shooter-medic. "From the first days of the war, he understood that he could not and did not want to stay away in such a difficult time for Ukraine. He always said: 'I have to protect you. I have to be there. Who, if not us. I want you to be proud of me.'" He transferred to the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade without hesitation, putting in maximum effort to gain as much knowledge and skills as possible. No matter how difficult it was, he always calmed us down with the words: 'I'm doing well.' My beloved wanted to protect us, wanted to defend our land until his last breath, wanted to leave his mark in the fight for the independence of our Motherland," said the deceased's beloved Alina Sholom. The warrior was buried in the village of Novopavlivka, Dnipropetrovsk region. Yevhen is survived by his mother, stepfather, younger sister, grandmother, grandfather, fiancée, aunt with her husband, and cousin brother and sister.