Sept. 15, 2025, 6:04 p.m.
(Oleksandr Hordienko. PHOTO: Ivan Antypenko/suspilne.media)
The daughter of the deceased Kherson farmer Oleksandr Hordiienko asks to award her father the title of Hero of Ukraine. He single-handedly cleared thousands of hectares of mines and shot down more than 200 Russian drones, saving equipment and workers during the war.
This is stated in a petition published on the website of the President's Office.
Alina Gordienko, the daughter of the deceased Kherson farmer Oleksandr Gordienko, filed a petition to the president with a request to award her father the honorary title of Hero of Ukraine.
According to the daughter, after the de-occupation of the right bank of the Kherson region, her father single-handedly cleared thousands of hectares of fields of mines, removed more than 5,000 anti-tank mines, and saved equipment and workers from shelling. Hordiienko actively countered enemy drones, using electronic warfare and even shooting them down with a rifle. During the war, he eliminated more than 200 Russian drones, for which the locals called him "Farmer Rambo."
The petition emphasizes that Oleksandr Dmytrovych was engaged in agriculture from 1992 to 2022, grew bread near Beryslav and continued his farming activities during the war, risking his life for the sake of Ukrainian land.
On September 2, 2025, the farmer met with Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko in Mykolaiv region to discuss the problems of farmers in wartime. Three days later, on September 5, while fighting the enemy with a special self-guided drone, he sustained life-threatening injuries.
Hordiyenko, a farmer and member of the Kherson Regional Council, worked devotedly in agriculture for more than 30 years and headed the Kherson Farmers' Association.
According to Oleksandr Prokudin, the head of the Kherson Regional Military Administration, the enemy took the life of one of the most famous figures in the region's agricultural community. Oleksandr Hordiienko headed the Hordiienko farm and was a true owner of his land. He stayed in his native Kherson region despite mined fields and shelling, continuing to work on the land and support his fellow farmers.
Анна Бальчінос