In honor of Oleksandr Oksanchenko

In honor of Colonel Oleksandr “Grey Wolf” Oksanchenko

This page is dedicated to Colonel Oleksandr “Grey Wolf” Oksanchenko. Being the display pilot for the Ukrainian Air Force Su-27 ‘Flanker’ between 2013 and 2018, he became well-known to many aircraft enthousiasts in Europe and beyond.
His story of personal courage is worth to be honored and remembered. Not only because it is the story of Oleksandr Oksanchenko, but also because this story also represents the brave choices and actions of tens of thousands of Ukranian men and women to defend their country, villages, cities or family, although their names are not so well-known.

After many years in operational functions, in 2013 Oksanchenko became the display pilot of the Sukhoi Su-27 for the Ukrainian Air Force. In the years to come, he flew his Sukhoi Su-27 ‘Flanker’ in an impressive way on many airshows throughout Europe. In recognition of his skills, he won many awards for his demonstrations. In 2017, colonel Oksanchenko won the ‘As The Crow Flies’ trophy for “best overall flying demonstration” at the 2017 Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT), the world’s largest military air show. Photos of this event, and several other events where Oksanchenko flew, can be found on my website.

In 2018 it was time for Oleksandr Oksanchenko to retire from active service. On the last day of the Belgian Air Force Days 2018 at Kleine Brogel Air Base, colonel Oksanchenko was honored with a water tribute by the Fire Brigade as a tribute and a thanks for his many contributions and achievements. This water tribute can also be found on my website.
Despite being retired from active service, Oksanchenko stayed involved in Ukraine’s Su-27 Flanker Display Team as a coach and advisor because he “ate, slept and breathed aviation”.

But on 24 February 2022 the lives of all Ukranians changed.
Russia invaded Ukraine in an attempt to overthrow the Ukranian government. Although he had retired from the Ukranian Air Force more than 3 years before, Oleksandr Oksanchenko once again put on his uniform to defend Ukraine against the Russian aggression. He rejoined the Ukranian Air Force to fight the invading Russian forces, knowing that these Russian forces outnumbered the Ukranian forces and also that Russian weapon systems were more modern.

This, by the way, was not the first time that Oleksandr Oksanchenko found himself opposite Russian aggression.
In 2014 Russia invaded Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula in the Black Sea, and annexed it. During this Crimean Crisis, Oksanchenko was based on an air base on Crimea and as a result he was in combat in this conflict. Some time later in 2014 he was also active in the hostilities in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, where pro-Russian separatists with regular Russian military forces waged war to also bring these parts of Ukraine under Russian rule.

His decision to rejoin the Ukrainian Air Force on 24 February 2022 shows Oleksandr Oksanchenko’s great involvement with Ukraine and tremendous personal courage. After a whole life in the military he was well aware that the invading Russian forces were prepared, were in larger numbers and were equipped with more modern aircraft and weapon systems.

On the night of 25 February 2022, while flying over Kyiv in an action to distract Russian fighter aircraft, Colonel Oksanchenko was shot down by a Russian S-400 missile system.

For his actions in defence of Ukraine, Colonel Oleksandr “Grey Wolf” Oksanchenko was posthumously awarded the title Hero of Ukraine by the Ukrainian President Zelensky.