Staff Sergeant Oleh Boichenko, call sign “Leonardo,” was killed on May 20, 2022, at Azovstal in Mariupol. He was 39 years old.
Oleh was born on May 11, 1983, in Mariupol. He was passionate about football and loved motorcycles.
“As a teenager, he was a real troublemaker, and I was often called to school because of him,” recalled his father, Oleksandr.
Afterward, Oleh completed his compulsory military service while simultaneously studying at Pryazovskyi State Technical University. He worked as a driver at Azovstal for five years and then spent another five years working as a long-haul truck driver.
“My son came home for New Year’s to celebrate with the family. On February 24, he was supposed to return to his job in Europe and had already bought his tickets. But the full-scale invasion began, and he chose to defend his homeland. As part of Military Unit 7037, he served as the commander of a support company,” his father said.
Konon and Leonardo met in late February 2022 at the Azov base. At that time, Oleh was forming a combat group of volunteers from the Territorial Defense Forces and the Mariupol District Territorial Recruitment and Social Support Center.
“From the very first minutes of our conversation, it was clear that Leonardo was a brave, decent, honest, and reliable person,” Konon said. “At the beginning of March, our group began carrying out combat missions near Morskyi Boulevard. It was our first battle. Oleh was the first to engage the enemy and open fire. During the fight, a grenade exploded above his head, damaging his helmet with shrapnel and cutting his eyebrow. But he did not leave the battlefield. Oleh stood up to his full height and charged toward the enemy shouting. That battle showed just how fearless and reckless a warrior he truly was.”
Leonardo fought on the front lines, remained calm under pressure, and never retreated.
“We were riding in the back of a pickup truck to another position,” Konon recalled. “Oleh looked at the shattered, burned buildings and the destroyed streets. There was cold fury in his eyes. He said that we would definitely avenge Mariupol.
At one position, during a mortar attack, several soldiers were wounded. Oleh and I carried one severely wounded fighter into a basement and provided first aid. Only then did he realize that he had also been wounded. Oleh organized the evacuation of his comrade but refused to leave himself, saying he was needed at the position. The next day, he suffered severe shrapnel wounds to both legs. This time, he was evacuated to Azovstal.”
From the hospital, Oleh called his father and said that once he recovered, he would return to continue fighting for his hometown. He wanted to remain useful.
“Because of his injuries, he could no longer perform combat missions, so he took on another role. He became a diesel generator operator at the ‘Fanat’ position, supplying electricity to the unit. That is where he was killed on the final day when the defenders were leaving and entering captivity. I learned about it later in the Olenivka prison colony,” Konon said.
Oleh’s body was returned in 2025. His urn containing his ashes is kept in the columbarium wall at Lukianivske Cemetery in Kyiv.
Oleh is survived by his son, father, mother, friends and brothers-in-arms, as well as his brother Oleksandr, who remained in captivity until April 11, 2026.
At 9:00 a.m., Ukraine observes a nationwide minute of silence. The Donetsk Regional Military Administration and the Heroes Memorial Platform honor and remember the fallen defenders from Donetsk region.