1974–2022
Serhii Mishchenko
Anti-tank gunner, Hero of Ukraine
His comrades called him “the tank destroyer”: Junior Sergeant Serhii Mishchenko knocked out 35 pieces of russian equipment, 14 of them tanks. A businessman from the Poltava region, he fought from the defense of Kyiv to the Luhansk region. Killed in 2022, posthumously made a Hero of Ukraine.
Key accomplishments
- Squad commander in an anti-tank missile platoon of the 45th Separate Artillery Brigade
- 35 pieces of russian equipment destroyed, 14 of them tanks
- Fought in the defense of the Kyiv region (Kyiv, Bucha, Irpin) and in the Kharkiv and Luhansk regions
- Hero of Ukraine with the Gold Star order, posthumously (decree No. 104/2023)
- Full cavalier of the Order For Courage; Cross of Combat Merit
“The tank destroyer”
Junior Sergeant Serhii Mishchenko went by the call sign “Buhor”, but his comrades nicknamed him “the tank destroyer”. He knocked out 35 pieces of russian equipment, 14 of them tanks. In a single battle he hit seven armored vehicles, four of them tanks.
From Zinkiv to the army
Serhii was born in 1974 in Zinkiv, in the Poltava region. In the early 1990s he served in the National Guard in Kryvyi Rih, later worked in law enforcement in Opishnia and then ran his own construction business in Khorol. When the full-scale invasion began, he left the business behind and joined the Armed Forces in February 2022.
From Kyiv to the Luhansk region
In the 45th Separate Artillery Brigade, Serhii commanded a squad in an anti-tank missile platoon. His path began with the defense of the Kyiv region: he fought for Kyiv, Bucha and Irpin. Then came the fighting near Barvinkove and around the villages of Virnopillia and Brazhkivka in the Kharkiv region, and after that the Luhansk region. Along the way he learned the American Javelin, and he hit his first target with it while firing from a tree, about two kilometers away. His commanders put him forward for the title of Hero of Ukraine while he was still alive.
Junior Sergeant Serhii Mishchenko was killed on 1 December 2022 near the village of Kovalivka in the Luhansk region, at the age of 48. On 23 February 2023 he was posthumously made a Hero of Ukraine.
Why it matters today
Serhii Mishchenko joined the army as a grown man with a business of his own and became an anti-tank gunner his comrades called “the tank destroyer”. His shots stopped russian armor near Kyiv and in the Kharkiv and Luhansk regions, armor that could no longer move on Ukrainian towns and villages. His path shows that people from every kind of peaceful work step up to defend Ukraine, and that skill and a steady nerve matter as much in war as strength.
