Serhiy Slastenko, a participant in the regional “Young Person of the Year – 2026” competition in the “Pulse of Life” category
Police Captain Serhiy Slastenko was born and raised in Kostiantynivka. Before the full-scale invasion, he served for over five years in the escort service and as a guard at a temporary detention facility. The resilience he gained there proved invaluable when he decided to voluntarily undergo training in tactical medicine and become a police paramedic.
His job is to provide first aid using the MARCH protocol and to evacuate the wounded from areas where civilian medics cannot safely access. Serhiy has repeatedly worked under repeated shelling in Kostiantynivka and villages near the front lines. During an attack on a hypermarket in August 2024, he evacuated people in an armored vehicle under cluster munition fire, and in April 2025, during a drone attack on the city hospital, he managed to get the staff to take cover just moments before the roof was hit.
Serhiy currently serves as a senior personal safety instructor at the Training Center of the Main Department of the National Police in Donetsk Oblast. He trains fellow police officers in tactical medicine and emergency response.