1992–2015
Petro Polytsiak
Hero of Ukraine, 80th Brigade “cyborg”
When his call-up papers reached the village council, Petro Polytsiak was working on a building site in Kyiv - and he came home to collect them himself. An 80th Airmobile Brigade soldier, call sign “Chornyi”, he held the new terminal of Donetsk airport to the end. Hero of Ukraine, posthumously.
Key accomplishments
- A builder from the Rivne region; mobilized in August 2014
- Rifleman of the 80th Separate Airmobile Brigade, call sign “Chornyi”
- One of the defenders of Donetsk airport's new terminal in January 2015
- Order for Courage, 3rd class (decree No. 282/2015 of 23 May 2015, posthumously)
- Hero of Ukraine with the Order of the Golden Star (decree No. 620/2021 of 3 December 2021, posthumously)
The call-up he came back for
Petro Polytsiak’s call-up papers were sent to his village council in the summer of 2014, while he was away earning a living on a building site in Kyiv. Petro came home and collected them, and by August 2014 he was in the army.
Petro was born on 5 July 1992 in the village of Borbyn in the Rivne region and went to the local school. Later he lived in Dubno and worked as a builder. In the army he became a rifleman in the 80th Separate Airmobile Brigade, with the call sign “Chornyi” - “Black”.
The new terminal
Petro and other soldiers of the 80th Brigade were defending the new terminal of Donetsk airport in January 2015 - the defenders known as “cyborgs”. The troops there came under fire every day. His family recall that during that fighting Petro and a comrade carried a badly wounded soldier out under fire, for almost half a kilometre, and the comrade helping him was wounded too.
Private Petro Polytsiak was killed on 20 January 2015 defending the new terminal of Donetsk airport. He was 22. That same day his brigade’s combat medic Ihor Zinych and Ivan Zubkov were killed there too.
Why it matters today
Petro Polytsiak could have stayed on his building site, but he came home for his call-up papers himself: he didn’t wait for the war to find him. The builder from Borbyn became one of the “cyborgs” who held the new terminal of Donetsk airport. He showed that courage means not only holding a position but also not leaving behind someone beside you who needs help. Anyone who doesn’t hide from their duty carries on what he did.
