Ihor Hordiichuk

The 25th Airborne Brigade consists of these seven soldiers.

Colonel Hordiichuk received assistance from a number of additional volunteers who joined the group.

These included combatants from the 4th Company of the 42nd Territorial Defence Battalion in the Kirovohrad Oblast, who were commanded by Lieutenant Colonel O. Melnychenko, artillery adjusters, infantry fighting vehicles from the 28th Mechanized Brigade, and armoured personnel carrier from the 3rd Separate Special Purpose Regiment arrived with brand-new communication apparatus.

Following the arrival of the reinforcement, Hordiichuk rotated; the Krym group withdrew.

With his hand injured, he remained on the hill, carried out combat duties, and kept the enemy informed of his whereabouts.

The order to leave the hill was received on the evening of 24 August.

By then, it was evident that the hill was surrounded tightly.

Russian separatists rendered inoperable the vehicle of the 3rd Separate Special Purpose Regiment, which had broken through it to transfer the injured personnel.

Hordiichuk issued the order to leave Savur-Mohyla at night of 25 August.

After 12 days and nights of nonstop fighting, the Ukrainian scouts departed from the hill that had been excavated by shells.

They were able to sneak around 60 km past the enemy's line and join Ukrainian forces close to Mnohopillia.

Scouts set out to make a breakthrough in an attempt to escape the encirclement on 29 August, accompanied by all forces from Ukraine.

Ihor Volodymyrovych Hordiichuk (І́гор Володи́мирович Гордійчу́к; born 12 November 1972) is a Ukrainian military officer who is posthumously awarded the Hero of Ukraine and Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky in 2014.

He is also known by his nickname Sumrak or Gordey.

Born on 12 November 1972, in the Ukrainian village of Zaliznytsia.

Hordiichuk attended the Omsk Higher Tank Engineering School from 1989 to 1991, and graduated from the Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi National Ground Forces Academy in 1994.

He completed four months of classes in Canada to meet the STANAG 6001 (2008) level for minimal English proficiency for personnel.

At the College of the United States Army in Carlisle, he further enhanced his military understanding.

After graduating in 1994, Hordiichuk began his military service in the Khmelnytsky region's city of Iziaslav with the 161st Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

He held several positions in the mechanized forces: deputy commander of a mechanized battalion, commander of a separate tank battalion, commander of a tank line battalion, reconnaissance platoon, and mechanized company.

Captain Hordiichuk first served as the deputy commander of a brigade in 2002, and then as the commander of the 8th Special Forces Regiment from 2003 to 2008.

He received an honors diploma from the United States Army War College in 2008, and the National Defense Academy of Ukraine in 2002.

He was part of the multinational contingent stationed in the Afghanistan from May to December 2010.

Hordiichuk gained notoriety in August 2014 when, for 12 days, he commanded special troops and, accompanied by his scouts, he successfully repelled several Russian attacks from Savur-Mohyla in Donetsk Oblast.

He worked in the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and in Defense Intelligence in April 2014.

Throughout the war in Donbas, Colonel Hordiichuk participated in several operations inside the ATO zone.

Leading a Special Forces unit, he oversaw the capture of the Savur-Mohyla strategic point while carrying out operations in the enemy's rear.

Following the capture of the hill and the installation of the observation station, Russian artillery spotters completely shut off all Ukrainian military transportation in the "D" sector.

On 12 August 2014, the 14-man scout group Krym of Hordiichuk broke into the hill's positions, gained possession of the hilltop observation post, and started carrying out combat duties including as spotting artillery fire.

Russian tanks, separatists, and artillery were used in large quantities to defeat the Ukrainian unit.

Due to enemy artillery attacks, communication channels were rendered inoperable.

While communication was not very effective, cell phone communication was feasible in certain parts of the hill.

Heavy artillery was directing its concentrated fire towards the Hordiichuk's group.

Almost every day, the enemy's soldiers attempted to storm the hill.

Although the scouts' lives were spared by bunkers, they suffered serious contusions from explosions that left the military crippled.

Hordiichuk himself was also often scolded, yet he remained in his role.

There were generally only firearms and grenade launchers available, although occasionally artillery assistance was used to repel day attacks.

Six attempts were made by separatists to take Savur-Mohyla by night.

The defenders of the hill survived many close-quarters assaults.

Colonel Peter Potekhin led a party of volunteer reconnaissance officers that came to assist on 18 August.