Junior Sergeant Mykola Shmalko was killed on February 21, 2023, during a combat mission near the Serebrianske Forestry, northeast of the village of Shypylivka in the Sievierodonetsk district of Luhansk region. The defender was 26 years old.
Mykola was born on September 19, 1996, in Sloviansk. He graduated from Secondary School No. 8 and the College of Transport Infrastructure. He first worked as a mechanic at the local locomotive depot, and later transferred to the Lyman depot to work as a machinist. He completed his studies by correspondence at the Ukrainian State University of Railway Transport in Kharkiv.
Mykola practiced martial arts professionally: MMA, freestyle wrestling, and hand-to-hand combat. Later he became a coach. He was a believer and attended church.
During the full-scale war, he defended Ukraine as a rifle squad commander of the 18th Sloviansk Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine.
Mykola Shmalko was posthumously awarded the Order “For Courage,” 3rd Class. He was also eternally enrolled in the personnel list of Military Unit 3035 of the National Guard of Ukraine.
The warrior was buried at the Northern Cemetery in Sloviansk.
At 9:00 a.m., a nationwide moment of silence is observed. The Donetsk Regional Military Administration and the Heroes Memorial platform commemorate the fallen defenders from Donetsk region.