In memory of Sergeant Anton Bondarenko (Banderas) of 13th Brigade of National Guard of Ukraine "Khartiia"

Author: Yurii Butusov

Sergeant Anton Bondarenko, callsign "Banderas", of the 13th National Guard Brigade "Khartiia", was killed on 15 September during an assault operation, leading into battle the foreign fighters he himself had trained. A philologist and founder of "Osvitarnia", he became one of the brightest examples of a new generation of warriors – educated, well-rounded and devoted to his country.

...I met Banderas in August. I arrived at the base of the Colombian unit of the 13th National Guard Brigade "Khartiia", where a group of foreign fighters had refused to go on an assault a few days earlier. We had to sort things out and select people, who would prepare for the assault, who would train with me as Mavic operators to support the assault, and with whom the contract had to be terminated. I was talking to the fighters in Spanish – Guadana, Valkir, Orion, Banderas… Suddenly, Banderas switched to Ukrainian: "The Colombians need proper mission-focused training. If they trust their commanders, they will go." It turned out that Banderas, tanned and fluent in Spanish, was a Ukrainian sergeant. He was troubled that he had not been with them during the failed assault. The fighters came in to see us one by one, and Banderas asked each of them: "We are planning a new assault. There will be thorough preparation, planning, our drones in the air. Are you going on the assault or not?" Half of the fighters agreed to Banderas’s proposal. I also selected six fighters to be trained as operators. When the selection was over, Banderas calmly said: "This time they will complete the mission. I will go on the assault with them." I replied: "I respect your motivation, but you speak Spanish fluently, the fighters clearly respect you, you need to be at the command post and maintain communications." Banderas looked me straight in the eye, without emotion, and said nothing. I realised that he had made up his mind: the people he was responsible for had to complete the mission.

I was struck by his obvious intelligence and determination, and I began asking who he was. Banderas spoke about himself very modestly and briefly; he was focused on the mission. He communicated with all the foreign fighters because he spoke English, French and Spanish (and also knew Latin). When asked where he had worked before the full-scale invasion, he replied: "I studied, I worked with literature. I worked with French media as a fixer. I ran the YouTube channel Osvitarnia and an Instagram page." That evening, I opened the link Banderas had sent me, and on Osvitarnia, I saw a video in which Anton Bondarenko spoke passionately and energetically about Ukrainian writers and their works.

And on Instagram, I saw him teaching Ukrainian to teenagers out on the streets, in such a manner that I wanted to watch every single video – it was impossible to tear myself away.

I understood why the battalion’s senior sergeant, "Tykhyi", immediately recognised Banderas’s leadership qualities: after completing his Basic Combined Arms Training, he was sent to the United Kingdom for further training and was effectively serving as the senior Ukrainian sergeant of the Colombian company. Banderas was, without question, passionately devoted to his vocation and had a genius for energising everyone around him.

Rarely in my life have I been so deeply impressed.

Because Banderas had devoted himself entirely to military service in the most dangerous and demanding profession – that of an infantryman. Not in a headquarters role, not as an interpreter, but as a frontline soldier.

Anton brought me six handpicked fighters and helped run their first training sessions on UAVs; he sent me a video of Valkir launching a Mavic into the air for the first time. After that, in his free time, Banderas started drilling on a strike drone simulator together with the newcomers

Meanwhile, the assault group of Colombians selected by Banderas began preparing for their assault mission under the command of the fearless "Hrom". Banderas trained alongside everyone else and worked like a machine – as professionally as it gets.

The time for the assault came. The battalion commander refused to allow Banderas to take part in the operation. But Anton came to the command post and argued his case very firmly and very categorically: he had no right to leave his soldiers; he had to lead them into battle. The Colombians had to hear precise orders coming directly from the front line and trust their commander – then no one would break. During training, he had promised that he would lead them into combat, and if he was kept back, it would undermine the morale and motivation of the men. Yes, foreign volunteer fighters can terminate their contracts; there is no criminal liability for them, everything rests on the commanders. It was an ironclad argument, and Banderas secured the right to go into the assault together with his soldiers.

The assault team completed its mission. The Russian position was destroyed. Not one of the foreign fighters panicked or turned back – they all acted calmly and with confidence.

But during the assault operation on 15 September 2025, Anton Bondarenko was killed like a hero by a direct hit from an enemy drone. That position was under enemy fire, drones were swarming overhead, and it was impossible to evacuate Anton’s body from under fire immediately. Banderas was therefore initially declared missing in action, and only a few weeks later was his body finally recovered.

Unfortunately, I did not know Anton Bondarenko for long, but he is one of those young men whose genius and the scale of whose personality you sense and understand from the very first meeting.

He was only 26...

What remains are the memories of his friends and his videos, which, I am certain, even centuries from now should serve as teaching materials, as an example and a source of inspiration for all Ukrainian philologists and writers.

I saw him before the battle and I understood how much he had changed within himself over the course of his life. He did not hesitate. He had prepared and hardened himself for combat. He was whole, and he took risks with full awareness.

He chose the path he believed in – the path of a Warrior, the path of a hero, like in his favourite books, the path of a defender of his family, of the woman he loved, and of the language he commanded to perfection.

For him, the Ukrainian language was not just a profession but a matter of honour, for which he gave his unique life.

We, those who knew him in the Khartiia Brigade, still often remember Banderas. We remember him with deep sorrow and great respect for his very real act of heroism. His military legacy lives on. In the next assault operation, the Colombian company of the Khartiia Brigade routed a company strongpoint of the Russian occupiers, and the fighters selected by Banderas proved themselves courageous and steadfast. In due course, we will tell that story.

I dream that the Ukrainian philological community will duly honour one of the best among us – a philologist by the grace of God, the founder of Osvitarnia, whose work was cut short by the war.

I am deeply grateful to his parents, who managed to raise such a personality and such a Citizen. It pains me that so few people had time to be touched by his light while he was alive…

And it is a matter of our honour to ensure that this light remains forever in the Ukrainian language.

The farewell ceremony for Anton Bondarenko will take place on 15 November at 11:00 a.m. at the Educational and Scientific Institute of Philology of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv (14 Tarasa Shevchenka Boulevard).

Gathering at 10:45 a.m. by the institute building.

The burial will take place at 1:00 p.m. at the National Military Memorial Cemetery.

Address: Kyiv region, village of Vita-Poshtova, 212 Zvenyhorodska Street (near the village of Markhalivka).

If you wish to bring flowers, please give preference to fresh ones…

Sergeant of the 13th Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine "Khartiia "

Anton Bondarenko remains in the ranks. Forever.