b. 1993
Yevhenii Bova
Hero of Ukraine, marine officer
When his brigade's commander was taken prisoner, marine officer Yevhenii Bova stepped up to defend Mariupol himself — and was named a Hero of Ukraine for it. Weeks later the Russians captured him too; he spent five months as a prisoner of war before an exchange brought him home in September 2022.
Key accomplishments
- Served from 2014 in the 1st Separate Marine Battalion (Mykolaiv), rising from platoon to battalion commander (2018)
- In spring 2022, after the 36th Separate Marine Brigade's commander was captured, took command of the brigade during the defense of Mariupol
- Made a Hero of Ukraine (2022) for personal courage in defending Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity
- Held prisoner from late April until 21 September 2022; commanded the 38th Separate Marine Brigade in 2023–2025 and was promoted colonel (2024)
When the brigade commander vanished
In spring 2022, Ukrainian marines were fighting a losing siege in Mariupol. When the commander of the 36th Separate Marine Brigade, Volodymyr Baraniuk, was taken prisoner, Lieutenant Colonel Yevhenii Bova stepped up to lead the brigade himself. He’d spent eight years rising through the ranks of a marine battalion in Mykolaiv, from platoon to battalion commander.
Bova was born in 1993 in the village of Staroavramivka in the Poltava region. After military lyceum he studied at the Ground Forces academy, then from 2014 served in the 1st Separate Marine Battalion. Years before the full-scale war, he spent four years holding the line in the shelled village of Shyrokyne in the Donetsk region.
The fight for Mariupol, and captivity
By the time Bova took command, the city had already been under siege for weeks. For his courage in defending it, he was named a Hero of Ukraine. But by late April 2022, Bova himself had been captured. Among the other Mariupol defenders held alongside him were Denys Prokopenko of the Azov regiment and Serhii Volynskyi, who had briefly commanded the same 36th brigade. They came home only on 21 September 2022, in one of the war’s largest prisoner exchanges.
Back to service
Bova stayed in uniform. In 2023–2025 he commanded the 38th Separate Marine Brigade, and in 2024 was promoted to colonel. His path — from a young lieutenant on the front line to brigade commander — traces what many Ukrainian officers have had to learn: how to fight and how to survive captivity, often within the same war.
