Husband, son, father, angel: A Ukrainian family mourns its hero

Zhanna Palahniuk never doubted that her husband – a Ukrainian paratrooper whose bulletproof confidence was honed by years of combat – would be in the thick of the battle, or that he would always prevail.

Then, in late April, Russian forces engaging in a major new offensive bore down on 1st Lt. Oleksandr Palahniuk’s Ukrainian Army unit, on the Izyum front in northeastern Ukraine.

In daily video calls, he began telling his wife of serious challenges and morale-sapping shortages, even of vehicles. A born problem-solver, who grated against hierarchy yet found his calling in the military, the deputy company commander said he resorted to evacuating the wounded on his own motorcycle.

What he didn’t tell her was that the fight was becoming overwhelming – and that he had stepped on a landmine. The device clicked but did not detonate, momentarily sparing the