2003–2024
Nazarii Hryntsevych
Azov combat medic, “Hrienka”
A combat medic with Azov and one of the youngest defenders of Azovstal: at 19 he held the line in besieged Mariupol. He survived four months as a prisoner of war, returned to the front and led a reconnaissance platoon. He was killed near Kreminna at 21; Hero of Ukraine (posthumously).
Key accomplishments
- Combat medic with Azov during the three-month defense of Mariupol and the Azovstal steelworks (2022)
- Order for Courage, 3rd class (2022)
- After his release from captivity, returned to service and became one of the founders of the Kontakt 12 artillery reconnaissance unit
- Hero of Ukraine (posthumously, Decree No. 467/2025 of 8 July 2025)
Who he was
Nazarii Hryntsevych was born in 2003 in Vinnytsia. After school he enrolled at the Vasyl Stus Donetsk National University, which moved to Vinnytsia after 2014. Before he turned 18, as a first-year student, he completed Azov’s basic combat course, and as soon as he came of age he joined the unit.
His story
From the first day of the full-scale invasion Nazarii, call sign “Hrienka” (also spelled “Hrinka”), defended Mariupol as a combat medic with Azov. For three months he held out, surrounded, at the Azovstal steelworks. It was there, in March 2022, that he turned 19. He was wounded. In May 2022, on the orders of their command, the Azovstal defenders left the plant and were taken prisoner. Nazarii spent more than four months in captivity and came home in September 2022 in a large exchange that freed 215 Ukrainian soldiers.
After rehabilitation Hryntsevych returned to service. Together with his comrades he created the Kontakt 12 artillery reconnaissance unit in the National Guard’s Azov brigade and commanded a platoon of optical observers in it. Junior Lieutenant Nazarii Hryntsevych was killed on 6 May 2024 on a combat mission near Kreminna in Luhansk Oblast. He was 21. On 8 July 2025 he was posthumously awarded the title Hero of Ukraine.
Why it matters today
For many Ukrainians “Hrienka” came to stand for a generation that went to defend the country straight from the lecture hall. He spoke of himself modestly: “I don’t think I did anything ‘wow’. I’m an ordinary soldier.” His words from Azovstal, “love your mom, eat your porridge and love Ukraine”, are still repeated as a simple, sincere piece of advice.
