Oleksandr Kovalenko

Until 2014, he worked as a manager, and in his hometown of Severodonetsk in Luhansk Oblast, he would attend rallies in support of the Ukrainian state and defending its territorial integrity. Since May 2014, he had served in the 24th Territorial Defense Battalion, which was later reformed as the 24th Assault Battalion “Aidar” as a rifleman and later a platoon commander. In 2022, he became a company commander, and eventually, he stormed Russian positions in the city of Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast at the peak of the fighting in the city. In 2024, he rose to the position of battalion commander. Throughout his career, he has achieved many awards, including the Hero of Ukraine in 2023, the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky third degree, and second degree in 2022 and 2023, respectively, and the Order for Courage third degree in 2019.