"SHENDRYKOV"

Maksym Shendrykov was born on December 30, 1992, in the city of Nizhyn, Chernihiv Oblast. He studied at Nizhyn Gymnasium No. 3 and at the Chernihiv Lyceum with enhanced military and physical training. In 2014, he graduated from Ivan Kozhedub Kharkiv National Air Force University (specialty: helicopter pilot). From then on, he served in the 12th Separate Army Aviation Brigade. He took part in combat engagements in the area of the Anti-Terrorist Operation / JFO in eastern Ukraine and evacuated the wounded. He was a participant in the UN peacekeeping stabilization mission in the Republic of the Congo (2020–2021). The Ukrainian helicopter detachment remained the only one to carry out flight missions in emergency conditions, for which it was highly praised by the UN mission leadership. During Russia’s full-scale invasion, he defended Ukraine’s skies from Russian occupiers. He took part in the battles for Kyiv Oblast (Irpin, Bucha, Hostomel), Chernihiv Oblast, and eastern Ukraine. He was killed on April 23, 2022, in Donetsk Oblast. He was laid to rest on April 28, 2022, in his hometown. Words of a friend: Maksym was coming back to live and to love. But the full-scale invasion by the eastern neighbor, which began on February 24, 2022, gave no chance for peace. From the first days of the war, Maksym defended Ukraine from the sky. He fought the enemy bravely and selflessly.