In Kharkiv, two streets are set to be renamed to honor the fallen heroes, pilots Oleksiy Mesiya and Maksym Ustymenko.

This was announced by the mayor of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, on his Telegram channel.

"Both heroes began their journey in Kharkiv, where they acquired military education and developed as officers. Their names will forever remain in the history of our city", – the mayor stated.

Oleksiy Mesiya perished on August 26, 2024, while defending Ukraine from Russian missiles. He successfully destroyed three cruise missiles and one drone.

"Oleksiy saved many Ukrainians from deadly rockets, at the cost of his own life", – noted the Air Command "West".

On the night of June 29, 2025, F-16 pilot Maksym Ustymenko died, leaving behind a 4-year-old son. He shot down seven aerial targets, but his aircraft sustained damage during the final engagement.

"Maksym did everything possible to divert the aircraft from populated areas, but he did not manage to eject", – reported the Air Forces.

Maksym trained alongside fallen pilot Andriy Pilshchykov, who was killed in the summer of 2023.