Second Lieutenant Roman Mierkov died on April 11, 2022, during a field exercise near the village of Brazhkovka in the Izyum district of Kharkiv region. The officer was 27 years old.
Roman was born in the village of Fedorivka in the Volnovakha district. He studied at the Veselivka School and the Donetsk Technical College of Industrial Automation. After graduating in 2014, he joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He defended Ukraine's independence in the ATO/JFO zone as part of the 93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade “Kholodny Yar.” During his service, he graduated from the Odesa National Academy of Communications named after O. S. Popov. He also studied at the Dnipropetrovsk University of Customs and Finance.
Roman faced the full-scale invasion together with his brothers-in-arms and continued to defend Ukraine from the Russian occupiers.
“A hero who, after being seriously wounded in 2020, lost part of his sight, after a long rehabilitation, did not abandon his cause and returned to service,” said the officer's mother, Lyudmila.
Posthumously, Roman Serhiyovych Myerkova was awarded the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky III degree.
The soldier was buried in the Alley of Heroes at the cemetery in Kamensk.
Roman is survived by his wife and son, mother, and sister.
At 9:00 a.m., there will be a nationwide minute of silence. The Donetsk Regional State Administration and the Heroes Memorial platform will commemorate the fallen defenders from Donetsk Oblast.