Ukrainian soldier is conferred Hero of Ukraine for spending 343 days in positions without break

Captain Oleksii "Botanik" (Nerd) Mykhailov has been conferred the title of Hero of Ukraine with the Order of the Gold Star by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Source: a decree by Zelenskyy; Brigadier General Pavlo Palisa, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, on social media

Details: Oleksii, a service member from the 3rd Mountain Assault Battalion of the Zakarpattia unit – Ukraine's 128th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade – stayed in the contact zone for almost a full year without relief, totalling 343 days. He arrived at the positions on 1 April 2025 and left on 8 March 2026.

Palisa said: "His combat record includes the Zaporizhzhia front, the defence of positions, some of the most difficult battlefield episodes and 343 uninterrupted days in positions. Under his command, the unit held its sector, repelled enemy assaults and retained its positions."

What is known about Oleksii Mykhailov?

Ukrainska Pravda. Zhyttia (UP.Life) recently told the story of Oleksii who stayed in positions without leaving for 343 days.

Oleksii, 37, is from Luhansk Oblast. He received his officer's rank while studying at V.N. Karazin National University in Kharkiv, where he completed military training.

He joined the armed forces at the end of 2020 and later signed a one-year contract. It was due to end in June 2022, but Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine began in February.

Not a single member of Oleksii's company is a career soldier. They are all former civilians. Yet during the defence of the Orikhiv front they have repelled every Russian assault and held every position.

Oleksii said he had tried to make life at the front easier for his soldiers, as poor living conditions, lack of proper food and the unchanging surroundings put significant psychological pressure on them and can trigger minor conflicts.

"To minimise this, I tried to rotate people – moving them from one position to another," Botanik says. "And it helped."

Two soldiers died. One died right in position after lying down to rest after duty at an observation post and not waking up, his heart stopped. The other died immediately after coming out from combat duty, also after lying down on a bed in a frontline village and not waking up because of heart failure. Both were aged over 50.

Ideally an infantryman would spend a month in combat and a month recovering in a frontline village. But the way things are at the moment, this is completely unrealistic because we don't have enough people," Botanik complains.

After his combat deployment, Oleksii was granted leave – a "full" 15 days . He was home for his daughter's 10th birthday, and he gave her a bike and taught her how to ride it. Then he went back to his unit.

"I see my primary role as a commander as minimising personnel losses – ideally ensuring there are none at all," Botanik says. "But unfortunately in war, and in the infantry, that's not possible. As for my personal motivation, I don't want my loved ones, my daughter, to see what I see – explosions, bombs, destroyed villages, death. That's why I'm here."

Background: Earlier, for the first time in history, Zelenskyy conferred the title of Hero of Ukraine to Oleksandra "Vyrva" Davydenko, a National Guard servicewoman who previously worked as a journalist.

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