Yurii V. Spashchenko

Born on December 11, 1994, in the village of Petropavlivka, Bratsky District, Mykolaiv Oblast. In childhood, he was passionate about football and participated in the competitions of the Children's and Youth Football League of Ukraine in 2010-2011, playing for the "DYuFK" team (village of Marynivka, Mykolaiv Oblast). From a young age, he stood out for his patriotic beliefs and consciously decided to fulfill his military duty honestly, achieving conscription for mandatory military service in the internal troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the spring of 2013. After passing a tough selection, he finished the junior commanders' training course at the training center of the Internal Troops (city of Zolochiv) among the best recruits and continued his service in the capital's separate special purpose brigade of the Internal Troops "Bars" as a squad commander with the rank of junior sergeant. In the winter of 2013-2014, he participated in maintaining public order in Kyiv during the events of the Revolution of Dignity. Later, when his unit was reformed into the 1st Operational Purpose Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine, he also consciously volunteered to defend his homeland with arms in hand. As he headed to the East of the country to fight against separatist militants, he reassured his relatives, promising that he would return alive. He was killed on September 5 in a fierce battle that began around 16:30 in the area of the town of Telmanove, Donetsk Oblast, when a column of vehicles and armored vehicles of the National Guard of Ukraine, moving to a designated area for a service-combat mission, suddenly came under concentrated fire from both sides. The enemy managed to disable the lead armored personnel carrier and destroy several KrAZ trucks; five soldiers were killed, and 12 were wounded. Despite the fact that most of them were very young conscripts, the guardsmen engaged in battle, returning fire, bravely attacked, and ultimately broke out of the fire "bag." He was buried with military honors in his native village. Hundreds of fellow villagers from Petropavlivka and the entire Bratsky District of Mykolaiv Oblast participated in the funeral. During the burial ceremony, despite the pain of loss, Yuriy's parents expressed confidence that their son gave his young life for the future of a free and independent Ukraine not in vain, stating: "The main thing is that this sacrifice is not in vain…" The hero's father, Viktor Stanislavovych, volunteered for the Armed Forces of Ukraine after his son's death.