A warrior, an athlete, a coach. Kyryl Aleksandrenko was born far from Ukraine — in the city of Kirovsk, Murmansk region. Yet by heart, by choice, and by deed, he became Ukrainian. A long-awaited son to his mother, Nataliia, he was a boy with a resonant voice and an open soul, learning from an early age what it meant to be strong.
In 2008, he moved with his mother to Mykolaiv — her homeland. It was here that his true coming of age began. Here he enrolled in School No. 43. And here, within the walls of the Vodolei Sports Palace, he first felt the water as his natural element.
Under the guidance of coach Karen Abramov, Kyryl grew not only as an athlete but as a person. In 2012, he achieved the standard of Candidate for Master of Sport. As a member of the Mykolaiv regional team, he repeatedly represented his region at national competitions across Ukraine.
Later, Kyryl chose a profession that meant constant forward motion. He entered Petro Mohyla Black Sea National University, where he earned qualifications as a coach in his chosen sport and as a physical education teacher. Kyryl did not merely seek to win — he aspired to raise champions. Until the full-scale war began, he worked as a coach-instructor at the Vodolei Sports Complex, passing on to children not only swimming techniques but a genuine love of sport.
In civilian life, he also worked for a time as a driver in Poland. He made plans for the future. He dreamed of a home of his own, of children. In the summer of 2022, he married Yuliia — the love of his life, with whom he had been since 2019. He had a beloved companion — a French bulldog named Jessie, whom he would gently embrace during brief meetings between rotations.
On 9 April 2022, Kyryl made the choice that defined everything — he joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine. “Mom, this is war. We will all have to fight,” he said.
Kyryl was assigned to the 5th Separate Kyiv Assault Brigade. He served as a driver in an artillery battalion. His call sign was “Rybа” — “Fish.” A symbolic name for a swimmer. In the water he felt confident; in war, he drove with the same steady assurance under fire, evacuating his brothers-in-arms from firing positions, acting swiftly and precisely.
In the autumn of 2022, his brigade was deployed to the Bakhmut direction — one of the fiercest defensive lines. Where the earth trembled from Grad rockets, where the sky was stitched with shrapnel, where every departure was balanced on the edge between life and death.
On 1 June 2023, near the village of Stupochky in the Donetsk region, Kyryl was carrying out a combat mission. He managed to evacuate his comrades from a firing position, but shortly afterward came under Grad rocket fire that proved fatal. He was 26.
Eternal memory to the warrior and the athlete.
Glory to the Hero.