The new commander of the 12th Special Forces Brigade of the National Guard "Azov" is Lieutenant Colonel Bohdan Hryshenkov (call sign "Puhach") — he has been serving in the brigade for almost 10 years.
This was reported on the brigadeʼs page.
He went from an ordinary soldier to a company commander, chief of staff, and battalion commander.
Bohdan Grishenkov
"The new brigade commander takes over the brigade at the moment of its greatest development. He will do everything possible for the effective work of the unit in cooperation with other brigades of the 1st Corps of the ʼAzovʼ National Guard," the message says.
The day before, on April 15, the National Guard of Ukraine, based on the 12th Special Forces Brigade "Azov", created the 1st Corps "Azov", headed by Colonel Denys Prokopenko (call sign "Redis").
What is known about Bohdan Hryshenkov?
Bohdan Hryshenkov was born on October 20, 1993 in the city of Slavyansk, the Donetsk region.
Before the de-occupation of his hometown on July 5, 2014, he had no plans to connect his life with the army — he was influenced by volunteers. He joined the “Azov” special forces unit on May 8, 2015.
In February 2020, he was appointed commander of one of the “Azov” companies. Bohdan Hryshenkov met Russiaʼs full-scale invasion of Ukraine in Mariupol, defending the city in one of the most difficult directions. During the battles for Azovstal on May 10, 2022, he was wounded by a bullet.
And on May 20 of the same year, "Puhach", together with the command of the Mariupol garrison led by Denys Prokopenko, carried out the order of the Ukrainian military leadership and left the territory of "Azovstal" in one of the last groups.
After that, he, along with other Azov prisoners of war, was taken to a colony in Olenivka. On the night of July 29, 2022, the occupation forces blew up the barracks in which Bohdan was — he received numerous shrapnel wounds to the head, arms, and legs, and also lost two toes.
Bohdan Hryshenkov was released from Russian captivity on September 21, 2022. After rehabilitation, Bohdan returned to service with Azov.
His comrade said that thanks to his extensive combat experience, he quickly and efficiently organized the work in his company during the summer counteroffensive of 2023.
In July 2023, "Puhach" was appointed first deputy commander of the 1st Battalion of the 12th Azov Brigade. In February 2024, he became the battalion commander. Under his leadership, the unit conducted offensive and defensive operations in the Serebryansk Forest and in the Toretsk direction, the brigade said in a statement.
For almost 11 years of service, Bohdan received 12 state awards, including the Silver Cross, the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, III degree, the Order "For Courage", III degree, and others.
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