On the Day of Defenders and Defenders of Ukraine, the USUCT SEI Held the “Hearts Devoted to Ukraine” Meeting

On October 1, 2026, on the Day of Defenders and Defenders of Ukraine, the SEI “Ukrainian State University of Chemical Technology” held a memorial meeting “Hearts Devoted to Ukraine”. Students, lecturers, university staff, veterans, and relatives of defenders gathered in the auditorium to honor the memory of people whose lives were connected with USUCT and who, at different times, stood up to defend Ukraine.

The event was hosted by students Kira Myrhorodska and Deputy Head of the Student Council of the USUCT SEI Hlib Pivnenko. They told the stories of alumni and students for whom the university was a place of study, communication, and plans for the future, while the war changed the course of their lives.

One of these stories was that of Denys Mykhailovych Kovach. He was born on April 17, 1996, in Dnipro and studied at the Ukrainian State University of Chemical Technology at the Faculty of Computer Science and Engineering, majoring in “Automation and Computer-Integrated Technologies”. He was actively involved in the student and youth life of the city, headed the Student Youth Committee, and worked on the Dnipro Youth Council. After the full-scale invasion began, Denys initially provided volunteer assistance and later managed to join the 128th Territorial Defense Brigade. His call sign was “Foltz”. Denys was killed on May 26, 2022, at the age of 26. In April 2024, a memorial plaque in his honor was unveiled on the facade of School No. 5 in Dnipro, where he studied. At the USUCT SEI, the memory of Denys is also preserved within the university community.

The guest of honor at the meeting, Denys’s mother, Olena Kovach, who has repeatedly taken part in the institute’s events dedicated to the Day of Defenders and Defenders of Ukraine, spoke about her son, his character, his desire to help others, and his conscious decision to defend Ukraine.

Another story told that day was the story of university graduate Andrii Anatoliiovych Dobrovolskyi, call sign “Leleka”. He was born in Dnipro, studied at our institution, and later lived with his family in Bila Tserkva and worked at the Rosava tire plant. In 2023, he was mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Senior Lieutenant Andrii Dobrovolskyi served as a platoon commander of the 68th Separate Jaeger Brigade. On September 5, 2023, during a battle near Novoiehorivka in the Luhansk region, Andrii was killed while helping relocate positions and covering his comrades. In 2025, he was posthumously awarded the Order “For Courage”, III Class.

During the meeting, the attendees watched a video specially sent by the defender’s wife, Varvara Dobrovolska. In it, she and their daughters spoke about Andrii not only as a serviceman, but above all as a husband and father who supported his children, loved sports, and dreamed of seeing them achieve victories in a free Ukraine.

Oleksandr Oleksandrovych Zhelezniakov also joined the conversation. He is a graduate of the Mechanical Faculty of the Dnipropetrovsk Chemical Technology Institute, where he studied from 1980 to 1985, majoring in “Machines and Apparatuses of Chemical Production”. His life journey is connected with several important chapters of Ukraine’s modern history. In 1986, Oleksandr Zhelezniakov was sent to Chornobyl, where he carried out radiation reconnaissance, including work on the roof of the third power unit of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant. In total, he spent 46 days in the liquidation zone in 1986 and another 44 days in 1987. In 2014, Oleksandr volunteered to go to the Anti-Terrorist Operation area, where he served as a platoon commander and deputy company commander. In 2022, he joined the territorial defense as early as February 26. His call sign “KIT” was formed from the first letters of his daughters’ names — Kristina, Iryna, and Tetiana.

During the meeting, Oleksandr Oleksandrovych spoke about his comrades, volunteers, and female military medics, and about the responsibility that falls on people in difficult situations regardless of age or gender. For the students, it was an opportunity to hear about the experience of war directly from a person who had experienced both Chornobyl and military service.

A special guest of the event was Hanna Anatoliivna Terianyk, Head of the Museum of the Modern Russian-Ukrainian War of the Dmytro Yavornytskyi Dnipro National Historical Museum, writer, and volunteer.

Hanna Anatoliivna’s work has been connected for many years with preserving personal stories and testimonies about the Russian-Ukrainian war. She spoke about the first months of the full-scale invasion, the evacuation of civilians from dangerous areas, shelling, and the responsibility for people who had to be evacuated from danger.

Hanna Terianyk also drew the students’ attention to the nationwide minute of silence: “For me, the daily pause at 9:00 is not a formality, but a personal duty to say silently: ‘I remember. Thank you to everyone.’”

The meeting concluded at the monument “The Winged Need No Ground”. Students, lecturers, staff, and guests observed a minute of silence to honor the memory of fallen defenders of Ukraine and laid flowers at the memorial.

“Hearts Devoted to Ukraine” was not only a meeting about the war. Above all, it was about specific people — students and graduates, parents, children, colleagues, and friends. About those whom the university community remembers, and those who continue to serve Ukraine today.

We remember those who fell. We thank those who defend Ukraine. And we continue to study, work, and do our part with an understanding of the true value of this opportunity.

More photos are available via the link