On 15 February, Lviv will say goodbye to soldiers Andriy Nechyporenko, Vadym Dergachov and Oleh Pankevych
On Saturday, 15 February, Lviv will say goodbye to soldiers Andriy Nechyporenko, Vadym Dergachov and Oleh Pankevych, who defended Ukraine from Russian invaders. The mayor’s office calls on residents and visitors to join the city’s ceremony of farewell to the soldiers and refrain from entertainment and celebrations during this time.
The funeral ceremony will begin at 11:00 a.m. in the Garrison Church of Ss. Peter and Paul. Afterwards, at approximately 11:30 a.m., a citywide farewell ceremony will take place on Rynok Square.
The fallen soldiers will be buried at Lychakiv Cemetery.
Biographical information about the defenders
Vadym Dergachov (08.12.1965-12.02.2025) was born in Yavoriv, Lviv region, to a military family.
He studied at Lyceum №45 of the Lviv City Council, then entered the Khmelnytskyi Higher Artillery Command School.
He is a career soldier. After graduation, in 1985-1995, he served in the 15th separate artillery reconnaissance brigade “Black Forest” of the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Subsequently, he was engaged in private entrepreneurship in Lviv for a period of time.
In 2015, he returned to the Armed Forces of Ukraine: first, he served in the 58th Separate Motorised Infantry Brigade named after Hetman Ivan Vyhovsky, and from 2017 – in the 15th Separate Artillery Reconnaissance Brigade “Black Forest”.
After the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, he performed tasks in the ranks of the 63rd separate mechanised brigade, and during the last period he held the position of deputy chief of the cycle commission of trailer artillery of the 356th training artillery regiment of the 184th training centre of the Hetman Petro Sahaidachnyi National Army Academy.
For his personal courage and conscientious service, he was awarded numerous decorations, including the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, III class, and the Badge of Honour of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine.
According to his family, he was an exceptionally hardworking man – he built his own house with his own hands, was always doing something and joking until his last breath. He lived for the military.
The Hero is survived by his mother, wife, two daughters, sons-in-law, sister and three grandchildren.
Andrii Nechyporenko (01.09.1995-07.02.2025) Born in Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia region.
He graduated from the local vocational school with a degree in car mechanic-repairer. He graduated from the Private Joint Stock Company “Private Higher Educational Institution “Zaporizhzhia Institute of Economics and Information Technologies” with a degree in Software.
After graduation, he performed military service.
He worked as a receptionist at the Nova Poshta branch in Melitopol. He was fascinated by the history of Ukraine, loved hiking and travelling.
According to his family, he was honest, proactive, responsible, and sought justice and the restoration of Ukraine’s statehood.
After the beginning of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, he returned from abroad and joined the ranks of the 17th separate heavy mechanised Kryvyi Rih brigade named after Kostiantyn Pestushko of the East operational command of the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He took part in the liberation of Kherson region, fought in the Donetsk, Kharkiv and Kursk directions, having changed many military professions. Returning from the front line, he lived in Lviv.
The Hero is survived by his fiancée.
Oleh Pankevych (08.08.1973-09.02.2025) was a resident of Lviv.
He studied at Secondary School No. 85 (now the Vasyl Symonenko Lyceum of the Lviv City Council). He received the profession of “assembler, installer of radio and instrumentation” of the III category at the former Secondary Vocational School No. 56.
After graduation, he served in the military in Poltava and Chernivtsi.
For most of his life, he worked in manufacturing, including at Lvivprylad, Lviv Electric Lamp Plant Iskra, Budkomplekt-Plus and a number of others. In his spare time, he was fond of crafts and mushroom picking.
From the first months of the full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation, he joined the 65th Separate Mechanised Brigade “Velykyi Luh” of the Land Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to defend his homeland from Russian invaders. He performed missions in the Lviv, Volyn and Zaporizhzhia regions. He was repeatedly honoured by his command for his conscientious service.
Oleh Pankevych is survived by his wife, son and brother.