1992–2024
Pavlo Petrychenko
Civic activist and aerial scout
A Kyiv activist who took part in the Euromaidan and the “Who Ordered Katia Handziuk?” campaign. From April 2022 he was an aerial reconnaissance specialist in the 59th Brigade. He was killed in Donetsk region on 15 April 2024, a day before turning 32; Hero of Ukraine (posthumously).
Key accomplishments
- Took part in the Euromaidan and was an active member of the “Who Ordered Katia Handziuk?” campaign; organized rallies in support of the activist Serhii Sternenko
- Project manager at the Serhiy Prytula Foundation; at the start of the full-scale invasion he built up a volunteer center in Kyiv
- From April 2022, an aerial reconnaissance specialist in the 59th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade named after Yakiv Handziuk, later commander of a drone squad
- Author of a petition to restrict online casinos (2024) that gathered more than 25,000 signatures in under a day
- Order for Courage, 3rd class (2023); Hero of Ukraine with the Order of the Golden Star (posthumously, Decree No. 298/2025)
Who he was
Pavlo Petrychenko was born in 1992 in Kyiv. He studied at the Kyiv National Economic University named after Vadym Hetman. He took part in the Revolution of Dignity and later in the civic campaign “Who Ordered Katia Handziuk?”. He organized rallies in support of the activist Serhii Sternenko.
His story
Pavlo worked as a project manager at the Serhiy Prytula Foundation. When Russia’s full-scale invasion began, he built up a volunteer center in Kyiv, and in April 2022 he joined the Armed Forces. He served in the 59th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade named after Yakiv Handziuk, in aerial reconnaissance: using drones, he tracked enemy positions and equipment and helped direct artillery fire, and he later became commander of a drone squad. In October 2023 he was awarded the Order for Courage, 3rd class.
At the end of March 2024 Petrychenko created a petition on the President’s website to restrict online casinos, to protect soldiers from gambling addiction. In less than a day more than 25,000 people supported it, and the President responded to it in his address.
Pavlo Petrychenko was killed on 15 April 2024 in Donetsk region, in the Avdiivka direction, while carrying out a combat mission, a day before his 32nd birthday. On 8 May 2025 he was posthumously awarded the title Hero of Ukraine with the Order of the Golden Star.
Why it matters today
Petrychenko stood up for justice both as a citizen and as a soldier. In 2025 Kyiv City Council renamed Volgo-Donska Street in the capital’s Darnytskyi district as Pavla Petrychenka Street.
