Yurii A. Zolotariov

Born on February 11, 1983, in the city of Kyiv to a military family. From 1991 to 1993, he studied at general education school No. 5 in the city of Uman, Cherkasy region, and from 1993 to 1998 at specialized general education school No. 142 in the city of Dnipropetrovsk (now the city of Dnipro). Since 1998, he attended specialized school No. 134 in the city of Dnipropetrovsk (now the city of Dnipro), which he graduated from in 2000. Since 2000, he has been in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In 2004, he graduated from the Military Institute of Rocket Forces and Artillery named after Bohdan Khmelnytsky of Sumy State University (city of Sumy) with a specialty in "Combat Application and Management of Actions of Ground Forces Units." From 2004 to 2010, he served in the 25th Separate Airborne Brigade of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (military unit A1126, the urban-type settlement of Hvardiyske, Novomoskovsk district, Dnipropetrovsk region). From 2010 to 2014, he was an officer-educator of the 3rd platoon of the Lyceum with enhanced military-physical training in the city of Dnipropetrovsk (now the city of Dnipro). From March 23, 2014, to March 2015, he served in the 25th Separate Airborne Brigade of the High Mobility Airborne Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (military unit A1126, the urban-type settlement of Hvardiyske, Novomoskovsk district, Dnipropetrovsk region) under partial mobilization. Since the spring of 2014, he participated in the anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine. From March 2015 to September 2016, he was an officer-educator of the Lyceum with enhanced military-physical training in the city of Dnipro. Since September 2016, he has been the deputy commander of the company for personnel work of the 1st parachute company of the 1st parachute battalion of the 25th Separate Airborne Brigade of the Air Assault Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (military unit A1126, the urban-type settlement of Hvardiyske, Novomoskovsk district, Dnipropetrovsk region). On December 21, 2017, Senior Lieutenant Zolotaryov sustained shrapnel wounds to the head as a result of a mortar shelling by Russian-terrorist groups targeting the positions of Ukrainian troops in the area of the city of Avdiivka, Donetsk region. The seriously wounded officer was evacuated to the Mechnikov Regional Clinical Hospital in the city of Dnipro, where he died from his injuries on December 24. On December 26, 2017, he was buried at the Alley of Heroes in the Krasnopil Cemetery in the city of Dnipro.