Valeriy Viktorovych Chybineyev (; 3 March 1988 – 3 March 2022) was a Ukrainian sniper who served as commander of the sniper company of the

79th Air Assault Brigade The 79th Separate Tavrian Air Assault Brigade (; 79 ОДШБр) (A0224) is a formation of the Ukrainian Air Assault Forces. The paratrooper brigade is based in Mykolaiv. Soldiers from the brigade have served as peacekeepers in Yugoslavia, Iraq, ...

. He fought in the

war in Donbas The war in Donbas, or the Donbas war, was a phase of the Russo-Ukrainian War in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine. The war Timeline of the war in Donbas (2014), began in April 2014, when Russian separatist forces in Ukraine, Russian para ...

and was awarded the Order of the Gold Star (Hero of Ukraine) in 2016 for his actions during a combat mission in

Avdiivka Avdiivka (, ; , ) is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. The city is located in the centre of the oblast, just north of the regional centre, Donetsk. The large Avdiivka Coke Plant is located in Avdiivka. The city had a population of before th ...

. On his 34th birthday, Chybineyev was killed in the

Battle of Hostomel During the Russian invasion of Ukraine, a military engagment was fought for control over the town of Hostomel between the Russian and Ukrainian armed forces. As part of an offensive on Kyiv, the Russian forces sought control over Hostomel, Buch ...

during the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

Early life and education

Chybineyev was born on 3 March 1988 in

Berdiansk Berdiansk or Berdyansk (, ; , ) is a port city in Zaporizhzhia Oblast, south-eastern Ukraine. It is on the northern coast of the Sea of Azov, which is connected to the Black Sea. It serves as the administrative center of Berdiansk Raion. The c ...

. His parents died while he was young and he was subsequently raised in an orphanage. He was influenced by the son of the orphanage's director who was a

paratrooper A paratrooper or military parachutist is a soldier trained to conduct military operations by parachuting directly into an area of operations, usually as part of a large airborne forces unit. Traditionally paratroopers fight only as light infa ...

. Chybineyev attended the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Sports Lyceum Zakhisnik before graduating from the

Odesa Military Academy The Odesa Military Academy is a modern higher military institution of the inter-services Armed Forces of Ukraine. The academy conducts language training for servicemen and employees of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, advanced training of military per ...

Military career

In 2010, Chybineyev became a lieutenant and joined the

. In the spring of 2014, Chybineyev's unit was deployed to , where they faced enemy fire that injured several of his soldiers. In another instance, he helped rescue three soldiers inside a tank that had hit a

land mine A land mine, or landmine, is an explosive weapon often concealed under or camouflaged on the ground, and designed to destroy or disable enemy targets as they pass over or near it. Land mines are divided into two types: anti-tank mines, wh ...

. To avoid being taken captive, Chybineyev once claimed to be part of Russian-backed forces. In January 2015, he was one of the soldiers who fought in the

Second Battle of Donetsk Airport The Second Battle of Donetsk Airport was an engagement between the Ukrainian military and Russian military and its proxy forces of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) during the War in Donbas. An earlier battle in May 2014 had left Donet ...

. In 2016, Chybineyev became the commander of the sniper company of the 79th Air Assault Brigade. In July 2016, he led sniper teams during a combat mission near

. The unit successfully destroyed all twelve targets, including machine guns, grenade launchers, and snipers. Chybineyev was injured when a shell fragment lodged in his shoulder. He continued to lead the unit. For his actions, he was honoured with the Order of the Gold Star by President

Petro Poroshenko Petro Oleksiiovych Poroshenko (born 26 September 1965) is a Ukraine, Ukrainian politician and Oligarchy, oligarch who served as the fifth president of Ukraine from 2014 to 2019. He served as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Ukraine), Minister ...

during the

Independence Day of Ukraine Independence Day of Ukraine (, ) is a public holidays in Ukraine, state holiday in Ukraine, celebrated on 24 August in commemoration of the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine, Declaration of Independence of 1991. History When Ukraine was st ...

parade on

Khreshchatyk Khreshchatyk (, ) is the main street of Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine. The street is long, and runs in a northeast-southwest direction from European Square (Kyiv), European Square through the Maidan Nezalezhnosti, Maidan to Bessarabska Sq ...

street. He was subsequently promoted to

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

. While fighting during the

, Chybineyev was killed in action in the

on 3 March 2022, his 34th birthday.

Personal life

In December 2016, Chybineyev was named by the ''

Kyiv Post The ''Kyiv Post'' is Ukraine’s first and most prominent English-language newspaper. It was founded in 1995 in Kyiv by American businessman Jed Sunden. In 2018, the publication was acquired by prominent Ukrainian businessman Adnan Kivan, foun ...

'' as one of the "Top 30 Under 30" young leaders in Ukraine. In a subsequent interview, he stated that he wanted to establish a sniper school. His brother Roman Chybineyev, the commander of a platoon within the 79th Brigade, died in 2019.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chybineyev, Valeriy 1988 births 2022 deaths Odesa Military Academy alumni Paratroopers People from Berdiansk Recipients of the Order of Gold Star (Ukraine) Ukrainian military personnel of the war in Donbas Ukrainian military snipers Ukrainian military personnel killed in the Kyiv offensive