Eduard Vahorovskyi | |
Birth Date: | 26 February 1965 |
Birth Place: | Rubizhne, Luhansk Oblast, Ukraine |
Death Place: | Ozerne, Zhytomyr Oblast, Ukraine |
Birth Name: | Eduard Mykolaiovych Vahorovskyi |
Allegiance: | Ukraine |
Branch: | Soviet Air Forces Ukrainian Air Force |
Serviceyears: | 1983—1991 (VVS) 1991–2003, 2014–2022 (PS ZSU) |
Rank: | Lieutenant Colonel |
Battles: | |
Awards: | Order of the Gold Star (posthumously) |
Alma Mater: | Stavropol Higher Military Aviation School for Pilots and Navigators |
Eduard Mykolaiovych Vahorovskyi (Ukrainian: Вагоровський Едуард Миколайович; 26 February 1965 – 24 February 2022) was a Ukrainian military officer (Lieutenant Colonel). He was awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine (2022, posthumously).
Eduard Vahorovskyi was born on 26 February 1965, in the city of Rubizhne, Luhansk Oblast.
From childhood, he dreamed of becoming a military serviceman. After finishing school, he enrolled in the Stavropol Higher Military Aviation School for Pilots and Navigators. After completing his studies, he spent a year in the Orenburg Oblast, where he served in a training regiment. Following that, he was stationed in the village of Ozerne in the Zhytomyr Oblast. At the age of 38, he retired from active duty with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. However, when the Russian armed aggression against Ukraine began in 2014, he returned to service.[1]
On 24 February 2022, he sacrificed his life while leading the Ukrainian military aviation away from a missile strike, allowing others to take to the skies.[2] [3]
He was laid to rest on 28 February 2022, in Ozerne, Zhytomyr Oblast.[4]
He was posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine with the Order of the Golden Star (28 February 2022) "for his personal courage and heroism demonstrated in the defense of Ukraine's state sovereignty and territorial integrity, and his loyalty to the military oath."[5]