Petro Huk

Senior Lieutenant Petro Huk (call sign Kucheriavyi) was killed on the night of July 28-29, 2022, in Olenivka, where the russian occupiers committed a war crime against the Ukrainian prisoners of war.

Petro was born in Ali Bayramli (now Shirvan), Azerbaijan, where his father was sent to work as a welder in construction. After five years, the family returned to Lviv. The boy attended Lyceum No. 2. He graduated from Lviv Polytechnic National University and completed his studies at the Faculty of Economics and Law at Mariupol State University via distance education.

He was an active participant in the Revolution of Dignity, and in 2014, joined the Azov Regiment, moving to Mariupol to serve. Petro initially served as a machine gunner in the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO). In 2015, he sustained a serious knee injury, requiring multiple surgeries. After recovering, he was reassigned to the Sapper unit, where he also took on responsibility as head of the engineering support department.

With the start of the full-scale invasion, Senior Lieutenant Huk defended Mariupol and the Azovstal plant alongside his brothers-in-arms.

“Before the war, my brother lived in Lviv. He was a private entrepreneur whose work focused on electricity and construction. Petro was an optimist, a true and indomitable patriot, and had time-tested friends. The last time we discussed the prisoner exchanges, he was convinced they would happen. Until the end, he held on to the hope that he would return home… The courage of our defenders shocked the russian occupiers,” said the Hero’s older brother, Robert Huk.

The Officer received the commemorative medal «Defender of Mariupol» and the presidential decoration “For Participation in the ATO.»

He was posthumously awarded the Order “For Courage” of the III Class and the rank of “Captain.»

On June 29, 2023, Petro Huk was laid to rest at the Field of Mars, Lychakiv Cemetery, in Lviv.

The Hero is survived by his brother and four nephews.

Source: Memorial

Contributors: Sophia Yakivtsiv and Tetiana Spindel (translators), Liena Shulika (designer)