"FRANCUZ"

Daniel was born on December 24, 1994, in the city of Bakhmach, Chernihiv Oblast. At the age of five, he moved with his mother to Kyiv, where he studied at School No. 80 and later at Gymnasium No. 73. He then continued his education at the Kyiv Transport and Economics College. He was an active participant in the Revolution of Dignity. In 2014, immediately after the start of the Russo-Ukrainian war, he joined the Azov Regiment and took part in the Shyrokyne operation near Mariupol. During the defense of Shyrokyne, he was wounded and sustained a concussion. After leaving military service, together with well-known activist and serviceman Maksym “Rehbist” Yalovtsov, a serviceman of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine who was killed on September 21, 2022 and was awarded the Order “For Courage,” 3rd Class, he became a co-founder of the public project and academy Civil Safety Academy. Its main purpose was to prepare civilians for self-defense, provide first-aid training, and teach safe and professional responses to aggression. Drawing on the founders’ own experience and understanding that a large-scale war was approaching, Civil Safety Academy trained volunteers, including young people, for armed resistance against the occupiers. In February 2022, at the Civil Safety Academy shooting range, Daniel formed a volunteer battalion. He later joined the Mriia Volunteer Formation of the Territorial Community and actively defended Kyiv and the surrounding region. As a result of the missile strike on the Retroville shopping mall, he suffered a serious injury when a concrete floor structure collapsed. He then underwent difficult treatment and rehabilitation and returned to the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine six months later. Subsequently, together with friends, Daniel created the Morana unit within the 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade, serving as an electronic warfare and UAV operator. The unit operated successfully on the Bakhmut and Avdiivka fronts. In 2024–2025, he served on the Zaporizhzhia front during the offensive operations of the Defence Forces of Ukraine, and in March 2025 the Morana unit transferred to the 48th Separate Special Purpose Detachment of the Security Service of Ukraine. From 2022 to 2023, Daniel served on the Soledar and Bakhmut fronts and took part in both offensive and defensive operations. In particular, he covered the logistics route between Soledar and Bakhmut and held the city’s defenses until it was operationally encircled. From 2023 to 2024, he served on the Avdiivka front, defending the left flank in the city of Avdiivka. In particular, he held positions at the local coke and chemical plant and protected logistics routes. He later moved to the defense of the right flank in Ocheretyne. From 2024 to 2025, he served on the Zaporizhzhia front, helping to hold back a renewed enemy offensive toward the city of Zaporizhzhia. Despite his active approach to life and optimism, the severe injuries he had sustained took a serious toll on his health. Daniel Kovalchuk’s heart suddenly stopped on May 3, 2025. Having endured the assaults of 2015, the heavy battles for Bakhmut and Avdiivka, the Ukrainian offensive in the south, the March 2022 missile attack on Kyiv’s Retroville shopping mall, and all the hardships of war, his heart stopped in Kyiv.