Oleksandr Malanchuk, a native of Chernivtsi, was a champion and holder of the regional football cup for youth (2015). He participated in the Ukrainian youth championships as a member of the Chernivtsi Youth Sports School football team (2015). A graduate of the “Bukovyna” football school, he played as a winger. He was tall and fast on the field.
He trained under coaches Oleksandr Buzhak and Andriy Telegiy.
“I can say that with this guy, you could go on a reconnaissance mission. Oleksandr was a talented football player, but he immediately decided that he would serve. He was the soul of the team and an incredibly positive person,” said Oleksandr Buzhak.
Oleksandr graduated from the Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi Land Forces Academy, specializing in “Management of Mechanized Units’ Operations.” He was an active sportsman and often represented the Academy in athletic competitions with great success.
In 2019, he enlisted as a contract soldier and fought in the 10th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade. He served as the commander of the 3rd Mountain Assault Platoon of the 1st Mountain Assault Company.
He was killed on April 1, 2020, by a gunshot wound during an artillery shelling near the village of Hnutove in Donetsk Oblast. He was just 21 years old.
By decree of the President of Ukraine № 290/2020, on July 24, 2020, he was posthumously awarded the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, 3rd class, “for personal courage and selfless actions demonstrated in defending the state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.”
On December 2, 2021, Mykolayivska Street in Chernivtsi was renamed in honor of Lieutenant Oleksandr Malanchuk.