Serhii Kulchytskyi

In this name that follows East Slavic naming customs, the patronymic is Petrovych and the family name is Kulchytsky.

Serhii Petrovych Kulchytskyi (Ukrainian: Сергій Петрович Кульчицький; 17 December 1963 – 29 May 2014) was head of the military and special training directorate at the National Guard of Ukraine. Gen Kulchytskyi was killed during the Siege of Sloviansk, when his helicopter was downed by armed pro-Russian separatists. 1st National Guard Battalion received his honorary name.

Serhii Kulchytskyi
Native name	Сергій Петрович Кульчицький
Birth name	Serhii Petrovych Kulchytskyi
Born	(1963-12-17)17 December 1963 Weimar, Efurt, East Germany (now Weimar, Thuringia, Germany)
Died	29 May 2014(2014-05-29) (aged 50) Sloviansk, Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine
Buried	Lychakiv Cemetery
Allegiance	Soviet Union (1981–1992) Ukraine (1992–2014)
Branch	Ukrainian National Guard
Rank	Major general
Commands	Western Territorial Command of Internal Troops (deputy commander)
Battles / wars	Russo-Ukrainian War War in Donbas Siege of Sloviansk †[1]
Awards	Order of the Gold Star (Posthumous)
Children	1

Military career

Serhii Kulchytskyi had a military upbringing. His father served with Soviet forces stationed in East Germany. Kulchytskyi graduated from the Ussuriysk military college in the Soviet Far East in 1981. He went on to train at the Far Eastern Higher Military Command School in the city of Blagoveshchensk, attaining a distinction in 1985. His military career began with the role of marine platoon commander at the Soviet Northern Fleet, based in Murmansk. Kulchytskyi served in the Soviet Northern Fleet until the dissolution of the Union. Once Ukraine became an independent state, Kulchytskyi moved to western Ukraine and became deputy commander of a National Guard battalion in Ternopil in 1992. Moving up the ranks, he became the battalion's commander in 1994. In 2010 he was appointed deputy commander of the Western Command of the Ukrainian Interior Ministry's troops by President Viktor Yanukovych.^[1]

Death

Serhiy Kulchytskyi's tombstone on the field of honorary burials at the Lychakiv Cemetery in Lviv

Kulchytskyi was travelling with soldiers to the Mount Karachun base near Sloviansk when their MI-8 helicopter was shot down by pro-Russian separatists armed with anti-aircraft weapons. The Major-General, six other National Guardsmen, and six special forces of the Interior Ministry were all killed. At the time, he was the highest-ranking officer to be killed in action.^[2]

Funeral

Kulchytskyi's funeral procession took place on 31 May, in the western city of Lviv at the Lychakiv Cemetery.^[3]

Legacy

Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko congratulated the 27th Brigade of the National Guard with the title of the "Serhii Kulchytskyi Battalion", after Kulchytskyi.^[3]

Awards

• Hero of Ukraine with the awarding of the «Golden Star» order (20 June 2014, posthumously). ^[4]
• Order of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi 3rd class (20 August 2008).^[5]
• Order for Courage 3rd class (28 May, 1999).^[6]

Personal life

Kulchytskyi was married with a son.^[1]