Once upon a time, we won't be on this earth,
And though it may sound cruel, in truth it's told,
But yes, it's real, whether we grant it worth,
Such life it is, a path that life unfolds...
In just a second, we'll leave all behind,
Everything and everyone we cherished so,
All that was precious, simple, and so kind,
Moments we laughed, and times that made us glow...
But in this world, things will remain unchanged,
The sun will rise just like it always did,
Spring will bring forth new shoots, rearranged,
Yet life itself, someday will have its bid...
We live as if forever, day by day,
Postponing all for a tomorrow, unclear,
We rush along, not knowing where we sway,
Surrendering ourselves to toil and fear...
Over trifles, we quarrel with our own,
Blaming the sun, the rain, as days flow by,
So often hurting those we've known and grown,
Awaiting reasons or occasions to comply...
For one day, we too shall leave this place,
Alas, no one can alter this decree,
But as long as we're here in this space,
Let's cherish life, together and being free.
K. Rabchun-Mosiychuk "One day we will not be on earth either"
Andrew left this place with a purpose,
so that spring could bring new life to this earth,
for us to be free and cherish life.
Mother Tanya
My Andryushik was born on March 12, 1981. He was born weighing 3.7 kilograms and measuring 53 centimeters.
A handsome, strong boy was born because his mom and dad were pretty big. This is the hero who was born to us.
He was born exactly at 00:00 from the 11th to the 12th of March. But I considered it necessary to record it on the 12th because it was an even day. Somehow, it seemed right to me.
When I gave birth to him, I looked up, and there was a clock behind me, and I saw exactly 12 o'clock midnight; my son was born...
..He was a very sociable boy. He could always stand up for himself. He could even bite some kid, but only when someone provoked him; then he could bite really hard. There were complaints about him sometimes. But he never bit or harmed anyone first. But if someone tried to take a toy away from him, he would stand up for himself, and we would get complaints. Whatever happened, it happened. You couldn't take that away from him.....
(Mother Tanya)
...He was always a leader in school.
Andrew had an excellent memory. He might not read or studied something, but he always answered correctly from memory.
In general, he loved to read, and he read a lot of science fiction. He reread Bulgakov's "Master and Margarita" several times. He loved reading and was a very intellectually developed boy...
(Mother Tanya)
...I always looked up to you, and there was always a competition between us: who's smarter, stronger, and more funnier.
With my brother, I could always discuss any problem. Now, with a heavy heart, I remember all our moments in life.
I remember how we shared a computer in our room, how we ate your signature scrambled eggs with tomatoes, how you went to parties, and how I envied you because I was still young and wanted to grow up faster. I remember how we went on vacations to the sea with friends, where we had fun until the early hours of the morning...
(Brother Denis)
My Andrew, my beloved sunshine. You have been a mother, a father, a friend, a lover, and my pillar of support to me. You won me over with your determination and great sense of humor. In any situation, you could always make me laugh.
It was easy to talk with you. We could talk for hours on end, even after 18 years of living together. There was always something to discuss and moments of comfortable silence with you...
(Wife Anna)
My dad was with me for as long as I can remember.
My first memory is of him playing ball with me in the backyard. I was amazed at how skillfully he kicked it from one foot to the other.
I remember how after an English lesson, we would go together and get pizza with corn. It was the most delicious pizza we ever bought.
I remember going to the movies with him to watch new cartoons, and about 15 minutes after it started, he would fall asleep.
I remember how we could play Monopoly and Munchkin for hours with him and my mom. He always "exposed" and "defeated" my mom...
(Daughter Nastya)
...Andriy introduced me to a different world that I didn't know before.
In my heart, there is a lot of love and gratitude for my husband. I was lucky to meet this wonderful person. I know I was a beloved woman and a close friend. We spent a wonderful 18 years together, gave birth to a wonderful daughter, planted many trees, and built many houses...
(Wife Anna)
Andriy's combat path was long - the defense of the Northern Donets River near Serebryanka, the liberation of Bilogorivka (Lugansk district), the cover of the Buchansk direction from Belarus, the defense of Spirne, the offensive on the Zaporizhzhia section of the front.
He was always an authority in his unit, always helped his comrades, trained new recruits, and raised the level of readiness of his comrades.
"The war cannot be won without me..."
(Andriy "Viking" Onishko)
My brothers-in-arm and I are preparing to go to the front line...
(Andriy "Viking" Onishko)
February 24, 2022, UKRAINE
BEGINNING OF THE INVASION
On February 24, 2022, at 3:40 a.m., a Russian tank column invaded Ukraine on the territory of the Luhansk region. Shortly before 05:00 Ukrainian time, Russian dictator Putin announced that he had decided to launch a military operation in eastern Ukraine. A few minutes after the declaration of war, Russia launched cruise and ballistic missiles at airfields, military headquarters and warehouses in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lutsk, Dnipro, Vasylkiv. There were explosions in Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa and Donbas.
After 06:30 Russian troops invaded Ukraine by land near the city of Kharkiv. At 07:40 Russian troops entered Ukraine also from the territory of Belarus. Ukrainian border forces reported attacks on facilities in Luhansk, Sumy, Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Zhytomyr, as well as an attack from occupied Crimea.
Andrew's notes
I woke up as usual at 5:30. I gave my sleeping beauty of a wife a little kiss on the nose, picked up my phone from the nightstand, and headed to the kitchen.
I had made up my mind. I'm going to war. If I don't take part in it, I'll eat myself up from the inside.
March-June 2022
Defense of city Brody, Lviv region.
At the beginning of the war, all combat-ready units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the National Guard were deployed to the east to repel the invasion. Their positions in the rear were taken over by volunteers and reservists.
Recorded from Andriy's words about the events of March-April 2022.
Brody. We're guarding the gas pipeline. There are several dozen of us. Nothing is happening here. Boring...
We are constantly being prepared for a Belarusian attack. The command insists on vigilance. Possible saboteurs.
A few sketches...
- - - - -
The guys are standing at the checkpoint. An Mi-8 helicopter is constantly flying above them.
There are no identifying signs visible - so it's the enemy.
They start shooting at the helicopter with their Kalashnikovs.
A few hours later, an officer arrives from a nearby aviation unit, which is stationed nearby, with complaints.
"Guys, that's our chopper. Why are you shooting at it? All the rotor blades are already riddled with holes."
- - - - -
The checkpoint remains vigilant in the fight against spies.
In the distance, an old man is riding a bicycle.
Upon the guard's shout of "Halt, who goes there?" the old man doesn't react.
The guard starts shooting into the air, and the old man falls off his bicycle.
It turns out he's not a spy, just a deaf old man.
P.S. No deaf old man was hurt by this action.
- - - - -
Evening. We're standing at the checkpoint, waiting for saboteurs.
My partner says to me, "I see movement. A group of armed people."
I report this to the commander via the radio.
Through the radio: "What? I can't hear."
I repeat, "We see a group of armed individuals. What should we do?"
Through the radio: "Huh? What do you see?"
Soldiers in camouflage suddenly appear to our right and left, emerging from the darkness. "Tell your commander that you've already been killed."
I say to the commander, "They've already killed us, damn it!"
Through the radio: "I can't hear anything. I'll send someone to you right now."
I shout into the radio, "No need for this. They've already shot us ."
I turn off the radio.
We introduce ourselves to the guys. They placed AFU motor riflemen next to us to cover the northern direction. They decided to inspect the area where we were supposed to hold the defense.
Ten minutes later, the commander comes running with his bare torso.
It was a complete circus, LOL.
July-August 2022
Defense of the village Serebryanka, Donetsk region
The summer of 2022 was particularly difficult for the defense forces of Ukraine. The enemy still had a significant advantage in equipment and ammunition. Our defenders were forced to simply endure and hold on.
Recorded from Andrew's words about the events of July-August 2022.
Serebryanka.
We're holding our defensive position along the Siversky Donets River.
The Russians are already on the other side of the river.
This whole area is so heavily mined that it would take around 200 years to make these forests safe for passage - tripwires, antipersonnel mines, and MON-50s.
But at least they taught me how to set tripwires - cord, hooks, everything for Russian worms. It will come in handy on our hike. )))
August 2022, Kherson and Kharkiv directions
The timeline of the Russian invasion of Ukraine covers the period from August 29, 2022, when the Kherson counteroffensive began, to November 11, 2022, when Ukrainian forces regained control of Kherson. In between, Ukraine successfully carried out a counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region.
September 11-13, 2022
Liberation of village Bilogorivka, Luhansk region.
Thanks to the actions of our heroes, Bilohorivka was the only populated area in the Luhansk region that was not captured by the enemy. Even though the Russians announced that "the entire Luhansk region has been liberated," as usual, they lied.
Recorded from Andrew's words about the events of September-October 2022
In general, we should be reinforcing the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
But the Ukrainian Armed Forces did not come to advance and liberate Bilohorivka. So, we had to go ourselves. Instead of a tank platoon and armored vehicles, we only had a few armored personnel carriers (BTRs) with us.
We didn't care. We took Bilohorivka ourselves.
At night, we even replenished the exchange fund. Some lost guys tried to make their way back to their side. They stumbled right upon us, saying, "Guys, we're on your side, Luhansk People's Republic (LNR)." Well, in short, we welcomed them properly. :)
- - - - -
We could have gone further, but the order was to hold the defense.
Well, we've been standing for a month. Nothing special is happening.
December 2022-March 2023
Covering the northern direction - Bucha, Klavdievo-Tarasov, Kyiv region
In the autumn of 2022, Ukrainian military leadership and experts considered a renewed offensive on Kyiv from Belarusian territory unlikely. However, in December, the General Staff revised its forecasts regarding the potential for an offensive on Kyiv or other northern regions.
It was necessary to secure the capital against the possibility of a renewed invasion.
Recorded from Andrew's words about the events of December 2022-March 2023
My goodness. We've been living in the fields for three months.
Dug trenches, built bunkers, and fortifications.
Waiting for a Belarusian offensive.
Hey, Ministry of Tourism, after the war we can organize eco-tourism here. )))
April-May 2023
Defense of the village Spirne, Donetsk region
From the beginning of 2023, the enemy has thrown all its forces into capturing Bakhmut. All Ukrainian defense forces are focused on holding back the enemy's advance...
April 2023. Spirne. Andrew's notes
At around 1:00 AM, we left for the combat positions in an off-road vehicle, an L200. In total, there were six of us in the vehicle, with four fighters inside the cabin and two in the bed of the truck. In the bed, we were also carrying SPG and three crates of ammunition for it.
We were driving on a broken road from Zvanivka towards Spirne. The road was filled with enormous craters from artillery shelling, and the mud was nearly impassable due to the rain. We were driving without any lights, and the driver was using a night vision monocular that wasn't designed for vehicle operation. Essentially, we were navigating by memory.
We turned into a field and started driving parallel to tree lines. After about 30 seconds, I noticed a faint glimmer of a flashlight coming towards us, along with shouts for help. Three soldiers were running across the field towards us, and they were yelling that one of them was wounded and asked for a ride to a field hospital.
May 2023. Spirne. Andrew's notes
Died: Kara (Vova Kharochka), Cancer, Latish (Vova Novickas), Marik, Husak, Ryba.
Wounded: Mammoth (Vova Slobodianyk), Reva (Vitalik), Gavryusha, Zheton (Zhenya)...
- - - - -
We were being replaced by the Gostomel brigade. There were rumors that they were packed with all kinds of goodies, like NATO soldiers. But the reality was much worse. Yes, they were well-armed, but all their weapons were Soviet-made.
Right after the Gostomel soldiers arrived and our guys left, they "disassembled" our Control Observation Point.
That day, we had everything thrown at us - planes, Grad rockets, mortars, and SPG attacks. The Gostomel soldiers were shocked 😁😁. They only brought a piece of dry bread and a small bottle of water each. They had clothing for a week. Their command told them that they would be here for three days. I've heard this bullshit before 🤣🤣🤣. At least a month, guys, at least a month...
July-August 2023
Offensive on the Zaporozhye/Southern front, Tokmak direction.
Ukraine had prepared a significant number of trained reserves and received equipment from allies.
A decision was made to launch an offensive on the southern front.
It was time to take back what's ours.
Recorded from Andrew's words about the events of July-August 2023
We are the Advance Guard. It's only our second month here somewhere in the rear. There's a lot of action around us, artillery is firing, but we're stuck here. When we arrived, we almost took the wrong turn. We could have ended up right at the Russian positions. 😄
- - - - -
They promise to shift us to one direction or another, but so far, these are just words. Guys, I've told everyone so many times - the war can't be won without me...
- - - - -
What the heck? We're an SPG crew, but they give us so few training shells.
We know how to fire with direct aiming, but using elevation, and trajectory - requires practice and refinement. And they feed us with breakfasts.
In short, I'll solve everything right now.
I burst into the dugout with a shout, "Shoigu, Gerasimov, where the hell is the ammunition?"
I look, and there's the unit commander and the brigade's deputy chief of staff standing there.
The brigade's deputy chief of staff to the unit commander: "Is this your soldier?"
Unit commander to me: "Onishko, what do you want?"
Me: "Nothing. May I go?"
Unit commander: "Go out. Go with God."
LAST CONVERSATION WITH BROTHER
Last conversation with wife
At 11:30 a.m. on August 10, Andriy was walking first, leading the department, when a 250-kilogram aerial bomb exploded in front of him. He literally covered his brothers from the blast wave with his own body, so no one else was hurt.
Andriy fought for his life in the hospital for more than two days. Unfortunately, the injuries to the internal organs were not compatible with life.
His call sign was "Viking".
He lived like a Viking and died like a Viking, arms in hand, protecting his family. Such was his way.
Self-sacrifice is what separates heroes from ordinary people.
Willingness to give one's life for one's family, for one's friends, for one's brothers and sisters, for one's Motherland — this is the essence and content of how our hero lived and how he died.
Forever in our hearts
Remember our Andriy.
Remember what he was like and what he did for all of us.
Remember his feat and his self-sacrifice.
He was, he is, he will be with us...
To support Andrew's Family click
