Andrii Kovalchuk
Major-General Andrii Trokhymovych Kovalchuk (Ukrainian: Андрій Трохимович Ковальчук; born 28 April 1974) is a Ukrainian military officer. He graduated from a military academy in 1997 and joined the Ukrainian army. He served in Ukraine and on deployment as a peacekeeper to the United Nations missions in Kosovo, Liberia and the Côte d'Ivoire. During the war in Donbas from 2014 to 2022, Kovalchuk took part in successful operations to liberate settlements in Donetsk Oblast before assaulting the Luhansk International Airport. Despite being wounded he captured the airport and held it for almost two months. Kovalchuk afterwards served with airborne troops and recommended the replacement of their Soviet-style uniform. On 24 August 2016, the same day uniform reforms were implemented, he was awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine.
Major-General Andrii Kovalchuk | |
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Kovalchuk with the rank of brigadier-general in 2018 | |
| Native name | Андрій Ковальчук |
| Birth name | Andrii Trochymovych Kovalchuk |
| Born | 28 February 1974 Shchytyn, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union |
| Allegiance | Ukraine |
| Service/ | Ukrainian Ground Forces |
| Years of service | 1997–present |
| Rank | Major-General |
| Battles/wars |
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| Awards | Hero of Ukraine Cross of Military Merit (Ukraine) Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky 2d class Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky 3d class Order of Danylo Halytsky |
In 2018 Kovalchuk studied for a Master of Public Administration degree at the Ivan Chernyakhovsky National Defense University of Ukraine. He was recognised as the best graduating officer and received the Queen Elizabeth II of Great Britain sword in recognition. Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Kovalchuk has been commanding forces in the south of the country. He has also led the 2022 Ukrainian southern counteroffensive and helped plan the 2022 Ukrainian Kharkiv counteroffensive.