Soldier Hennadii Bitkine was killed on 21 March 2022 as a result of an airstrike on a hospital in the 17th district of Mariupol. He was 47.
Hennadii was born on 9 June 1974 in Mariupol and studied at School No. 10.
“My son loved reading very much. We had a big home library that, unfortunately, burned down in the spring of 2022. He collected stamps — he had three large albums. He was gentle by nature. He loved animals and all living creatures. His favourite saying was: ‘Don’t kill flies, they’re like birds — they also want to fly.’ He never harmed even an ant, always picked it up and carried it outside. He never smoked or swore in his life, and his friends were the same — educated and well-read,” his mother Nelya said.
He received vocational education at the Mechanical and Metallurgical College. He worked as a docker in the port, at the Azovstal steel plant, and at the Azov Sea Shipping Company.
In 2017, Hennadii joined the city’s Territorial Defence. He wanted to learn how to handle weapons so he could defend his native Mariupol if needed.
“He continued working as a docker, and twice a year he went to the training grounds for several weeks with other members of the Territorial Defence. The military commissariat granted official leave for the duration of the training. He enjoyed military service very much, so when his contract expired at the end of 2021, he decided to extend it for another three years,” Nelya recalled.
On the morning of 24 February 2022, Hennadii came to his mother with his belongings and documents. He said he had to go and defend his city from the Russian invaders.
“I clearly remember his words: ‘Mom, don’t worry, this won’t last long — about ten days.’ We didn’t even hug — and he ran off. He guarded the Mariupol TV tower. He called every evening. During our conversation on 2 March, he told me not to worry if there was no connection. ‘We’re hitting them, but they keep coming,’ were the last words he said to me. I never heard from him again,” she shared.
Nelya received no further news from her son. According to witnesses, Hennadii was last seen on 14 March at the hospital in the 17th district, which was later destroyed by an air bomb.
“We searched for Hena, but to no avail. I gave a DNA sample and waited. In July 2023, I received a call from a police department in Kyiv — there was a DNA match. My son’s body was found on the territory of the Azovstal steel plant. The forensic expert said that all his bones were shattered — a typical sign of death from an airstrike,” Nelya said.
He was cremated on 30 July 2023 in Kyiv. For now, the urn with his ashes is kept in a columbarium. Nelya hopes to bury her son in his native Mariupol — the city he loved so much — after it is liberated.
Hennadii is survived by his mother and his niece.
At 9:00 — the nationwide moment of silence. Donetsk Regional Military Administration and the Memorial of Heroes platform commemorate fallen defenders from Donetsk region.