Mykola Shmalko

Mykola was born in Sloviansk, Donetsk region. In 2015, after graduating from Sloviansk College and studying part-time at UkrDUZT, he began working at the Sloviansk Locomotive Depot. He worked as a repairman for rolling stock, then as an assistant locomotive driver, accumulating 7 years of experience. He dreamed of becoming a locomotive driver.

Mykola was a professional athlete (mixed martial arts, freestyle wrestling, hand-to-hand combat), a man of his word and action, confident in himself, and a good friend.

With the onset of the war in February 2022, he immediately volunteered to join the National Guard of Ukraine.

Mykola Vyacheslavovych Shmalko was killed on February 21, 2023, while performing a combat mission near the village of Shypylivka in the Luhansk region, where he sustained injuries incompatible with life.

He was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage, III class.

Mykola was the only child in the family, and his parents remain.

The team at the Sloviansk Locomotive Depot of JSC "Ukrzaliznytsia" mourns the heroic death of Mykola Shmalko. Eternal glory to the hero!