"SKIF"

Marine Serhii Zaviriukha, call sign Skif, was killed on March 14, 2022, in a battle with the occupiers near the settlement of Kostiantynivka in Mykolaiv Oblast. He was a little over a month short of his 27th birthday. Until June 2023, he was considered missing in action. Serhii was born and lived in the city of Dolynska, Kirovohrad Oblast. He graduated from School No. 3. Later he enrolled in the Kryvyi Rih Aviation College, but did not finish—he decided he had chosen the wrong profession. In 2015, he was drafted into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. After 11 months of service, he signed a contract and went to defend Ukraine. He fought with the 10th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade as an operator-gunner of an anti-aircraft gun mount. He took part in the ATO in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. He received awards and a letter of commendation. After his contract ended, he returned home. He worked for himself: kept an apiary, sowed sunflowers and wheat. He had been drawn to working the land since childhood. He loved fishing and hunting. He was interested in history. He went on excavations, collected antique items and coins, researched their origin, and built a collection. On the second day of the full-scale war, February 25, 2022, Serhii was mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. His entire family saw him off. He hugged his wife tightly and his little son. He told him he had to go, and 2-year-old Maksym kept crying, “Dad, no! Dad, no!” The child seemed to sense it was the last time he would see him. But Serhii had to go—he could not do otherwise. This time, he served in the 137th Battalion of the 35th Separate Marine Brigade named after Rear Admiral Mykhailo Ostrohradskyi. He was the commander of the ZSU-23-4 “Shilka” self-propelled anti-aircraft gun. “On 14.03.2022 there was a terrible battle. The guys repelled the offensive on Mykolaiv and were encircled; many were killed and taken prisoner. Some made it out and returned to the barracks, which the Russians struck with missiles on March 18. A lot of people died… As for my son, he wasn’t found anywhere—everyone believed he had been taken prisoner. Time passed, and there was no information. We turned everywhere—everything was in vain. But hope did not leave us; we believed our Serhii was alive and that some information would appear soon… For a year and three months we searched for our warrior. On June 20, 2023, I was told the DNA matched—the ground fell out from under my feet… They found my son in a mass grave. So many questions, and no answers… His vehicle was at the battle site, but there was no body and no personal belongings, so they believed he was in captivity,” said his mother, Valentyna Zaviriukha. “My son was kind, good, sincere, devoted—the best! He always smiled; his smile inspired people. For him everything was always fine, and even if I noticed something was wrong, he would say, ‘Mom, everything is fine.’ I thank God that He gave me such a son—brave and unbreakable. When we were seeing him off to war, I said, ‘Son, maybe you won’t go? You have little Maksymchyk—look how he’s crying.’ And he answered, ‘Mom, when my son grows up and asks where I was when the war began, what will I tell him? I have to go… I must protect all of you and our Ukraine.’ I understood that my son was a patriot—devoted to our people, our state, our Ukraine. My son is my pride and my sorrow. I want everyone to remember what price we pay for our freedom, our independence, our Ukrainian land!” adds Valentyna. On June 25, 2023, Serhii was laid to rest at the Alley of Glory cemetery in his hometown. At home, he was waited for by his mother, his brother Oleksandr, his sister Natalia, his wife Valeriia with their son Maksymchyk, two grandmothers, and other loving relatives.