B "are occupiers for two: Su-25 pilot told how it was knocked down by a rocket of the Russian Federation and the greatest loss in life

Igor Parkhomenko's 25-year-old son, Serhiy Parkhomenko, was a pilot, he died on May 14, 2022, performing a combat mission in the Zaporozhye region in the area of ​​Gulyaypole. Only 40 days after his death, his father, Igor Parkhomenko, was able to sit on the helm again. Since then, he takes a son of a son in every combat departure and is fighting for two, and his colleagues say after his return: "He flew for Sergius. " "Yes, I am flying for two now.

I make one combat departure for the dead son, one for myself," says the colonel. Igor still has the younger son of Nikita, who is also protecting the Ukrainian sky. For Colonel Parkhomenko, the war began in 2014. At that time, he served in a tactical aviation brigade for almost 20 years. At one time he graduated from Kharkiv Higher Military Aviation School and went from the senior pilot to the deputy commander of the brigade.

His son Sergei came to his brigade in 2019 after graduating from Ivan Kozhedub Kharkiv National University of Air Force, and Igor moved to the KhNUPS Faculty as a senior pilok inspector. "The son remained in the brigade, and after 26 years of service I went from the brigade to KNUPS, to the faculty contained in Nikolaev. I stayed on my Su-25, at flights. There were proposals from command to transfer to higher positions, but I did not imagine the service where there was no one.

The instructor pilot, performing the duties of the instructor for the preparation of the cadet warehouse and the flight staff of the brigade, "-said Igor Parkhomenko. He recalls that in 2014 he began to carry out combat missions in the Donbass, and during 24 combat departments, his aircraft shot down a rocket from the territory of Russia, from the installation of "1-C rack". Igor survived, went down the parachute, after 6 days he was taken by special forces fighters.

From September 5, 2014, aviation has stopped active work. In February 2022, he was not involved in the removal of equipment as opposed to his son and was very worried about him. He says he coped for 5 points because their brigade did not lose any aircraft. "I remember how, while performing the senior operational group, one of the operational airfields had to send a couple for a combat mission. And I had to make a decision to send. I did not act as a commander, but rather, as just a friend.

I came to the room and asked," The guys, who flew? " Igor Parkhomenko confesses that at the moment he did not know how to respond, but tried not to give a sight. He had an experienced presenter, senior comrade, but was situationally so that the presenter of this combat mission became Sergei. "Then his son was thrown to another point, he fought, and I served as a instructor. Subsequently, they began to fly with their son in one squadron.

He says they never flew in pairs, because how to return to another, if someone is gathered. "In that his last combat departure, Sergei was paired with his one -tone, Alexei. Two one -toe - young boys whose fate fell out of war," the pilot says. Captain Sergei Parkhomenko died when he was 25 years old. In total, he made 38 combat departments. After the 28th he was awarded the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky III degree. The father sat down for the helm 40 days after his son's death.

"As I was told, I have to learn to fly now with my pain. I learned and returned to the airfield to perform combat tasks next to the same pilots as my son. They are all the same by age almost the same, but very quickly all these guys grew up, changed very much in my eyes. "The movie" Almost a few young people went to the battle, "says Igor Parkhomenko. He added that they are all his children and therefore he cannot leave them.

He says that he sometimes has two combat departures a day, but they are a little and confess that he has the principle of work - They are offended if someone flies out of turn. If I do the second on this day, it is for myself. "It is important for me to take into account the" son "flights, I do not count my. That is why today the Hero of Ukraine, Captain Sergey Parkhomenko has already 197 combat departments . . .