A farewell ceremony was held in Rivne Region for three defenders of Ukraine – Leonid Kovalchuk, Oleksandr Bryzh, and Oleksandr Portyukh.
This is reported by Rivne24
Leonid Kovalchuk, born on October 14, 1971, lived in the village of Stavriv in the Podloztsi community. After the onset of the full-scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine, he decided to defend his homeland. Leonid was considered missing in action, but it later became known that he died while carrying out a combat mission on February 8, 2026, in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
Oleksandr Bryzh, born on June 28, 1982, in the city of Sarny, was drafted into the Armed Forces of Ukraine on June 16, 2024. He served as a gunner in the 68th Separate Jaeger Brigade named after Oleksa Dovbush in the 5th Jaeger Company. Oleksandr carried out combat missions in Donetsk region and was considered missing in action for nearly two years. His death was officially confirmed at the end of May 2026; he died on August 5, 2024, while performing a combat mission in Donetsk region.
Oleksandr Portyukh, born on April 7, 1992, in the village of Pluzhne in Khmelnytskyi region, took up arms to defend Ukraine in February 2026. He served as a machine gunner in the assault unit and died on May 21, 2026, in the Dnipro direction.