Remembering Sergei Zheleznyak, 49

Owen Clarke
·2 min read
1

This article originally appeared on Climbing

Sergei Zheleznyak, of Kharkiv, was killed in combat in mid-March 2023, and posthumously awarded the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky in the third degree for his service. The 49-year-old Zheleznyak had served in the Ukrainian military for nearly a decade, initially with the 92nd Ivan Sirko Separate Mechanized Brigade during the 2014 war in the Donbas.

Zheleznyak's posts on Facebook reveal a wry sense of humor, despite the grim realities of his combat service. In a post recalling his first time firing an anti-tank gun in 2015 he wrote, "After the shooting, the crew got together, everyone smiled slyly... after which I sniffed the cartridge case, got [it] in the ass with the case, was smeared with powder fumes, and finally was declared an artilleryman."

Outside his military service, Zheleznyak was a member of Kharkiv's Rotary International, a talented dancer, and a mountaineer. Social media posts show him atop Elbrus (18,510 feet), the highest mountain on the European continent, proudly displaying the Rotary Club flag. He regularly volunteered with the Rotary, including at a rehab center for children with developmental disabilities.

(Photo: Courtesy of Gennadii Kopeika)
(Photo: Courtesy of Gennadii Kopeika)

Friend Iryna Koroleva remembered Zheleznyak as "a fearless driver [when] under fire in the Sands." (Oleshky Sands, a semi-desert region south of the Dnipro River that was the site of heavy fighting early in the conflict.) "You promised me you’d shoot me if we got [captured]," Koroleva recalled. "Thanks to you for [us] not being captured during our trips. We drove ahead [even] when we were told there were [enemy forces] ahead! Smart and decent, [Zheleznyak] loved his wife and his cats."

Koroleva remarked on their efforts to provide gear & supplies to the "Cyborgs," the stalwart volunteers defending Ukraine's Donetsk Airport in the 2014 conflict. "We had the great honor to show our respect and support as we gave the Cyborgs a little gear ... and see their smiles with our own eyes! Now you are with them, together with our warriors in heaven!"

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