Serhii Parkhomenko

Serhii Ihorovych Parkhomenko (Ukrainian: Сергій Ігорович Пархоменко; January 14, 1997, Kharkiv –  May 14, 2022, Huliaipole, Zaporizhzhia Oblast) was a Ukrainian military serviceman, captain of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, participant in the Russian-Ukrainian war. In August 2022, he was posthumously awarded the title of "Hero of Ukraine".

Biography

He was born on January 14, 1997, in the city of Kharkiv, in a family of military aviators. Since childhood, he dreamed of the sky and wanted to connect his life with aviation. He graduated from the Ivan Bohun Kyiv Military Lyceum.^[1]

At the time when his father Ihor Parkhomenko was performing combat missions in the air during the war in Donbas in 2014, Serhiy entered the flight faculty of the Ivan Kozhedub National Technical University, which he successfully graduated in 2019, having obtained the qualification of a 3rd class pilot.^[2]

Following the example of his father and grandfather, Serhii expressed a desire to serve in the tactical aviation brigade named after Lieutenant General Vasyl Nikiforov and to fly Su-25 aircraft. Despite his young age, at the time of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he already held the position of commander of the aviation unit. Since the first day of repelling the Russian invasion of Ukraine, he carried out 38 sorties in difficult conditions with enemy air defense and fighter aircraft, during which he destroyed more than 20 enemy tanks, more than 50 armored combat vehicles, 55 vehicles, 20 fuel tanks and several hundred Russian soldiers and officers.^[3]

On May 14, 2022, Captain Serhiy Parkhomenko died while performing a combat mission in the Zaporizhzhia region near the city of Huliaipole.^[4]

Since active hostilities were ongoing in the region where Parkhomenko came from, on May 18, 2022, he was buried in Vinnytsia.^[5][6]

He was survived by his parents, wife and son, who was born in March 2022.^[7]

Awards

• the title of Hero of Ukraine with the award of the «Golden Star» order (May 20, 2022, posthumously) — for personal courage and heroism, shown in the defense of state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, loyalty to the military oath.
• Order of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi III Class (May 2, 2022) — for personal courage and selfless actions shown in the defense of state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, loyalty to the military oath.^[8]

Notes

1. ДОРОГІ БОЙОВІ ПОБРАТИМИ ТА ПОСЕСТРИ! ШАНОВНІ ПАНОВЕ ОФІЦЕРИ, СЕРЖАНТИ, ПРАЦІВНИКИ ЛІЦЕЮ, УСІ УЧАСНИКИ ОСВІТНЬОГО ПРОЦЕСУ! ВЕЛЬМИШАНОВНІ ЛІЦЕЇСТИ-БОГУНЦІ! ШАНОВНІ БАТЬКИ (ОПІКУНИ)!
2. "Харківський льотчик посмертно став Героєм України". 2day.kh.ua (in Ukrainian). 2022-05-20. Retrieved 2022-05-21.
3. Бондарєв, Віталій (2022-05-18). "У Вінниці попрощалися з пілотом з Харкова Сергієм Пархоменком". Суспільне Новини (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2022-05-21.
4. "У Вінниці попрощалися із загиблим на війні пілотом: на його честь у небі пролетіли літаки". 24 канал (in Ukrainian). 2022-05-18. Retrieved 2022-05-21.
5. Тригуб, Олексій (2022-05-18). "Бойові літаки в небі над Вінницею віддали останню шану молодому льотчику-штурмовику Сергію Пархоменку". Армія інформ (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2022-05-21.
6. "У Вінниці провели в останню путь 25-річного льотчика-штурмовика Сергія Пархоменка. Свою шану віддали і пара літаків Су-27 у небі. ВІДЕО+ФОТОрепортаж". Цензор. нет (in Ukrainian). 2022-05-18. Retrieved 2022-05-21.
7. Олехнович, Анастасія (2022-05-21). "За два місяці до загибелі Герой України Сергій Пархоменко став батьком…". Армія інформ (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2022-05-21.
8. Указ Президента України № 292/2022 від 2 травня 2022 року «Про відзначення державними нагородами України»

Sources

• Anastasia Olekhnovich, Two months before his death, Hero of Ukraine Serhiy Parkhomenko became a father… // ArmiyaInform. — 2022. — May 21.