“Every day I think about those who did not have time to help,” - police officer Valentin Mikhailenko rescued orphans in fire-ravaged Mariupol
Valentin Mikhailenko, along with his partners, evacuated the wounded, and carried food and water, on a fragmented service car. During the fighting, they made their way to a shelter where 20 orphans were hiding, with precious cargo — a generator, bags of flour and sugar. The policeman repeatedly looked into the eyes of death - next to him, a shell killed a whole family, and his house was bombed by the Russian military.
Valentin Mykhailenko is the head of the response sector of the Mangush patrol police, which is currently temporarily occupied. Since 2014, the functions of law enforcement officers have been added to duty at checkpoints, security of strategic facilities, and development of settlements. “Every day we faced non-standard situations, ammunition was withdrawn, every day could be the last.
Everyone worked side by side to defeat the enemy and protect the country,” the policeman recalls.
In 2017, he led the unit and optimized the location of the outfits so that assistance to the people arrived as quickly as possible.
When Russian troops invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Valentyn arrived at the deployment site on 24 February 2022, on a combat alert signal and until the last he served in the surrounded Mariupol.
The response team was always first on the scene and helped the victims of Russian bombings.
“When they came under fire - ran out of cars, fell to the ground, cars were all hit by shrapnel. There was no fear as such. I thought that if I did not do this, then no one would do, that I would be responsible for everyone who did not help,” says Valentin Mikhailenko.
The native Mariupolitan experienced pain along with all the inhabitants. People became more cohesive — everyone helped each other.
First of all, law enforcement officers helped those who could not take care of themselves on their own. “In the Primorsky district, about 20 orphans remained in shelter.
They were given the task - so that the children had light, food, water. They brought a generator, 5 bags of flour, sugar, everything they need,” - in the blockaded city these were the most precious things. “Mariupol is my family, my home, everything I had.
I was born there, grew up... In those terrible days, I realized that the greatest value is family, that everything can end in one moment,” the policeman shares.
Valentin saw with his own eyes what the “Russian measure” is and what he was doing with the Mariupol people:
“On April 20, I was evacuating my family, driving along Naberezhnaya Street with my mother-in-law, my daughter, when suddenly 70 meters in front of me - a direct hit of a shell into the car. The family was burned alive. Children have seen it, it is difficult to survive. We could have been in the place of this family.”
Valentin Mykhailenko continues to serve in the Donetsk police and strives to save as many lives as possible: helping people to evacuate, supporting those who, like him, lost their homes.
“Plans for the future are to stay alive, be close to family and work for the good of the country. You go to the service every day, and one thing in your head is that we will win, that everything will be fine,” - despite all the losses, Valentin lives with the belief that Ukraine will win.
Donetsk Oblast Police Communications Department
