55 tanks. 140 armored vehicles. 900 occupiers - wiped out from the sky by a single pilot. And one life, cut short on his 100th combat mission. Today, he would have turned 32. Oleksandr Kukurba dreamed of becoming a fighter pilot. But he said the war needed people who could turn tanks into scrap metal. So he took the controls of a Su-25 ground-attack aircraft. Before the war, his call sign was “Kochehar” - “Stoker.” His brothers-in-arms said the name fit him perfectly because, like feeding a furnace, he dropped bombs one after another on columns of enemy armor. On February 24, 2022, chaos engulfed the airfield. But not him. His fellow pilots later recalled that morning: they looked around at everyone - and Sasha was the only one whose eyes showed no fear. He took off, dove low, hugged the treetops, and made his first attack run. Then he pulled up, turned around, and came back, firing his cannon at those crawling out of the burning armored vehicles. His brothers-in-arms said: “A second run is suicide. He wasn’t afraid.” He bombed columns of armored vehicles near the Antonivskyi Bridge that were advancing toward Kyiv. His mother saw the burned-out vehicles on the news and called him. “If I survive, I’ll tell you,” he replied. Then he added: “Mom, don’t ask.” In those days, his life became a relentless cycle: take off, find the enemy, open fire, return, reload with ammunition - and take off again. He would say: “One Su-25 isn’t enough. Give me more rockets.” He was awarded the title Hero of Ukraine and the Gold Star. His mother learned about it from the neighbors and called to congratulate him. He calmly replied: “This isn’t only my award.” He came home to his village to see his mother. He hugged his cat and dog. Then he showed his mother a video on his phone - footage of him destroying a pontoon bridge across the Siverskyi Donets River. He had never shown her a single piece of combat footage before. That was the only time. He simply said: “Mom, look.” Then he went back to war. July 26, 2022. His 100th combat mission. His Su-25 was shot down over the Donetsk region. He ejected too low. His parachute did not have enough time to open. He fell near the village of Andronivka. Around 55 tanks. 140 armored vehicles. 900 occupiers. Destroyed from the sky. By him. His brothers-in-arms later said with a bitter smile: “He cut down Russians faster than crumbs fall from a baguette.” If he were alive, Oleksandr Kukurba would have turned 32 today. But his life stopped at 27. On his 100th combat mission. In the sky he had loved since he was six years old. Source: translated from the text of Bairak Oleh