Oleksandr Yakovych Oksanchenko (; 26 April 1968 – 25 February 2022), nicknamed the Grey Wolf, was a Ukrainian fighter pilot and Myrhorod city councilor. He was a colonel in the Ukrainian Air Force who won awards in several air shows before retiring in 2018. In 2022, he returned to serve in the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and was killed by a Russian S-400 missile during the Battle of Kyiv. He was posthumously awarded the Order of Gold Star.
Early life
Oksanchenko was born 26 April 1968 in the village of , Pokrovske Raion in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast and attended his local secondary school until 1985 before commencing military aviation training. He graduated from Kharkiv Higher Military Aviation School of Pilots.
Career
Oksanchenko joined the Soviet Air Force in 1989. He worked as an instructor pilot, later rising to the position of deputy commander of his flight training military unit in the 831st Tactical Aviation Brigade stationed at the Myrhorod Air Base. During the 2014 Crimean crisis, he was stationed at Belbek Air Base and was in combat in Crimea and the Anti-Terrorist Operation Zone.
From 2013 to 2018, Oksanchenko was a display pilot of the Sukhoi Su-27 for the Ukrainian Air Force. He had over 2,000 flying hours. In 2016, he flew in the Malta International Airshow. He was the winner of the 2016 and was presented with a trophy from the Slovak Air Force commander. In 2016, Oksanchenko was honored as the Myrhorod person of the year. In 2017, he won the As the Crow Flies Award for the best display at the Royal International Air Tattoo. In 2018, he won best pilot at the . Oksanchenko was a colonel when he retired in 2018.
He was a member of the Strength and Honor () party in Poltava Oblast. Starting in November 2020, he served as one of the deputies in the Myrhorod city council.
Oksanchenko came out of retirement to resume active duty during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. On the night of 25 February, he was killed (possibly by friendly fire) while defending the skies over Kyiv.
Personal life
Oksanchenko had two daughters.
Legacy
On 29 August 2023, the Air Force Command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine shared a video of piano burning ceremony has been held as a tribute to fallen Ukrainian fighter pilot and commemorated to and Oleksandr Oksanchenko. On video of the ceremony shared by 831st TBA shown a piano with painted pilots' nicknames and planes' tail numbers as next: "11 Chobanu" (for Su-27S "11 BLUE"), "30 Kyryliuk" (for Su-27S "30 BLUE") and "100 Oksanchenko" (for Su-27P "100 BLUE").
Awards
Oksanchenko was a recipient of the Order of Danylo Halytsky. He was posthumously awarded the Order of Gold Star by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
See also
Ghost of Kyiv
List of aircraft losses during the Russo-Ukrainian War
Anton Lystopad
Mykhailo Matiushenko
Andrii Pilshchykov (Juice) Vladyslav Savieliev (Nomad) Vadym Voroshylov (Karaya)
References
External links
1968 births
2022 deaths
Ukrainian military aviators
Aviators killed by being shot down
Ivan Kozhedub National Air Force University alumni
People from Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
Recipients of the Order of Danylo Halytsky
Recipients of the Order of Gold Star (Ukraine) Ukrainian Air Force officers Ukrainian city councillors Ukrainian colonels Ukrainian military personnel killed in the Russian invasion of Ukraine Ukrainian military personnel killed in the Kyiv offensive