“BORIAN”

Klepikov Oleksandr Serhiiovych, call sign “BORIAN”, was a native of Simferopol, a committed patriot of Ukraine with an active civic stance. He took part in the Revolution of Dignity and the resistance to the annexation of Crimea in 2013–2014. He was a marine of the 1st Separate Marine Battalion (Feodosiia) and a sergeant of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (HUR of the Ministry of Defence). He participated in HUR aerial operations into occupied Mariupol. In the spring of 2014, after the occupation of his native peninsula, Oleksandr immediately stood up to defend his homeland and devoted himself to military service. He was a volunteer of the first intake of the newly formed “Azov” Battalion. He served as Deputy Commander of the Reconnaissance Platoon of the 1st Separate Feodosiia Marine Battalion and, during his service, underwent training abroad. He took part in combat operations in eastern Ukraine, including the liberation of the city of Mariupol in 2014. Oleksandr met the full-scale war in Mykolaiv. The rapid advance of the enemy through Kherson Oblast required immediate action. With the first explosions in the city, Oleksandr joined the Defence Forces and, under an assignment from the Military Administration, worked on preparing defensive positions in the “government quarter.” After that, as part of the Defence Forces, he helped repel attacks on the approaches to Mykolaiv from the Kherson direction and took part in diversionary operations in Mykolaiv Oblast, resulting in the capture of the first enemy groups. In March 2022, together with his brother-in-arms Sergeant Havrylenko Ivan Mykhailovych (a recipient of the Order of “For Courage”), he defended Kyiv Oblast as part of the 10th Detachment of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (HUR), taking part in ambush and diversionary actions in the enemy rear. On the morning of April 5, 2022, Oleksandr Klepikov, as part of an evacuation group, flew to assist a helicopter that was returning from Mariupol and had sent an SOS signal. Tragically, the aircraft carrying Oleksandr—the special operations reconnaissance serviceman—was also shot down by the Russians. Highly motivated and a true professional, Oleksandr Klepikov understood all the risks and the critical importance of helicopter missions under the conditions of Mariupol’s complete encirclement. For exceptional valor, self-sacrifice, and heroism, we (citizens of Ukraine, friends, and brothers-in-arms) ask that Klepikov Oleksandr Serhiiovych be posthumously awarded the highest honorary title of the state—Hero of Ukraine—with the presentation of the “Gold Star” Order.