1977–2022
Dmytro Apukhtin
National Guard colonel, Mariupol
His brigade is called Khortytsia, after the island in his home city of Zaporizhzhia. National Guard colonel Dmytro Apukhtin led a battalion group that defended the approaches to Mariupol, and in his last fight he made sure his soldiers survived. Hero of Ukraine, posthumously.
Key accomplishments
- Served for many years in the National Guard's 9th Operational Regiment in Zaporizhzhia; from 2014 carried out combat missions in eastern Ukraine
- From 2020, deputy commander of the National Guard's 23rd Separate Public Order Brigade Khortytsia
- In December 2021 took command of a National Guard battalion group in the Joint Forces Operation area; from 24 February 2022 defended Mariupol
- Hero of Ukraine (posthumously; decree No. 167/2022 of 25 March 2022)
A colonel from Zaporizhzhia
The brigade Dmytro Apukhtin served in is called Khortytsia, like the island in his home city. Dmytro was born in Zaporizhzhia in 1977 and gave most of his life to the service. For many years he served in the National Guard’s 9th Operational Regiment, named after Hero of Ukraine Bohdan Zavada and based in Zaporizhzhia. From 2014 he carried out combat missions in eastern Ukraine, and in 2018 he completed a master’s degree at the National Academy of the National Guard in Kharkiv.
A battalion group outside Mariupol
From 2020 Colonel Apukhtin was deputy commander of the 23rd Separate Public Order Brigade Khortytsia. In December 2021 he took command of a National Guard battalion group in the east, so russia’s full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022 found him at the front. His guardsmen defended Mariupol: they covered the main road junctions on the approaches to the city and again and again took on an enemy that far outnumbered them. In these battles they destroyed about 20 russian armoured vehicles.
Dmytro Apukhtin was killed in action on the northern edge of Mariupol on 12 March 2022, aged 44. His unit completed its last mission, and his soldiers survived. On 25 March he was posthumously made a Hero of Ukraine, the country’s highest title; the same decree gave it posthumously to the Azov soldiers Mykhailo Chuprin and Stanislav Partala.
Why it matters today
Dmytro Apukhtin was a senior officer, yet he fought alongside his soldiers and cared for their lives to the end. In the first weeks of the full-scale war his battalion group held the enemy back on the approaches to Mariupol. He showed that a real commander answers not only for the mission but for every person he leads into battle. A street in Zaporizhzhia now bears his name.
