A school in Odesa unveiled a commemorative plaque in honor of a former student who served as a defender

A memorial plaque honoring Dmytro Pogoda, who gave his life defending Ukraine, was unveiled on June 29 on the facade of Gymnasium No. 27. 

An Intenta correspondent visited the site.

Soldier Dmytro Pogoda, whose call sign was “Kozak,” was killed on December 26, 2024, while carrying out a combat mission near the village of Kam’yanske in the Zaporizhzhia region. He was 38 years old.

Dmytro was born in Legnica, Poland, and lived in Odesa. In 2009, he graduated from the History Department of the I.I. Mechnikov National University. He worked as a lecturer. In 2014, he participated in the ATO. He later taught at the National Aviation University.

In March 2022, he once again took up arms to defend Ukraine. He fought as part of the “Kraken” special unit of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. He was awarded the following honors: “For the Defense of the Motherland,” the “Golden Cross,” “For Combat Merit,” and the “For Contributions to Ukrainian Military Intelligence” (2nd Class). He is buried at the Western Cemetery in Odesa.

On the eve of Constitution Day in Ukraine,a motorcade followed a memorial route from the “Western Cemetery” to the Wall of Honor on Pastera Street and then to the Alley of Heroes in Shevchenko Park in Odesa on June 28. 

In April, the Executive Committee of the Odesa City Council approved standardized designs for gravestones to honor the memory of Ukraine’s fallen defenders. Earlier,a scandalerupted in Odesa over the issue of honoring fallen soldiers—one of the participants in the discussion made a public statement accusing others of manipulation and twisting her words. In August 2025, a designfor a memorialin Odesa was developed to honor the soldiers who gave their lives for Ukraine. 

In April 2025, the civic organization “Family of Angels of Light” proposed to the Odesa City Council and representatives of religious denominations thatan honorary military memorialburial site be established on the grounds of Odesa’s Western Cemetery.

Кирило Бойко