Ohorodnikov is a platoon commander in the 1st Mechanized Battalion, UAV Company, of the 28th Separate Mechanized Brigade.
The defender, originally from Odesa, took part in the Revolution of Dignity and served in the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) in eastern Ukraine in 2014–2015. After Feb. 24, 2022, he returned to defend the country — serving in Odesa, Kyiv Oblast, Donetsk Oblast, Kharkiv Oblast, and Kherson Oblast. He described the heavy fighting immediately before Kherson’s de-occupation.
“After we liberated Prydniprovske/Pravdyne, the front really began to move at a furious pace," he said.
"We entered Kherson almost without a fight. But before that the battles were extremely hard — especially in Oleksandrivka. It was so intense that we suffered tremendous losses, many killed. And after Kherson’s liberation, serious fighting began along the Dnipro shoreline—mostly artillery duels.”
Oleksandr and his comrades were among the first to enter the city freed from Russian occupation.
“In November 2022, we were the first to enter Kherson," he recalled.
"We came in without fighting, but the situation was tense because there were many collaborators and a risk of provocations. So we stayed on high alert.”
The soldier remembered how people in the streets greeted Ukraine’s troops with joy and thanked them for ending the occupation.
“What we experienced in Kherson was unlike anything else — truly incredible," he added.
"Just the sight of our uniforms sparked a storm of emotion. People hugged us, cried, rejoiced—it was unforgettable.”
Many encounters from that day stand out, but most of all he remembers a 12-year-old boy who openly showed his pro-Ukrainian stance in Kherson Oblast despite the danger.
“In Antonivka I met a twelve-year-old boy with a flag," the soldier said.
"He told me how he displayed Ukrainian symbols, rode his bike with them — showing everyone. Very brave. He also told me he was abducted with his stepfather, interrogated, tortured, abused—and then dumped near the Kherson railway. That story still motivates me to stay and keep fighting.”
Oleksandr’s unit remained on the Kherson axis until December 2022. Leaving was hard:
“The hardest part for me was leaving Kherson Oblast. The atmosphere felt like home. When our vehicle broke down, people rushed out, practically competing to help fix it. They brought flowers, shared whatever they had.”
Harder still were the losses throughout the full-scale war. In June 2024, Oleksandr’s friend, who dreamed of family — also with the call sign “Viter,” Oleksandr Vovkovych — was killed.
“He joined the Armed Forces at 21," he remembered.
"He gave his entire salary to his parents, who were displaced. Thanks to him they bought a small farm and a little house in Kyiv Oblast. He was killed in June 2024. We’ve had many losses, but none hit me this hard. He fought from the very start of the full-scale war and never once took the chance to quit.”
“I often say a nation is born through experience—through the experience of struggle. The people of Kherson felt their Ukrainian identity intensely.”