Evgeny “Maly” Yeshchenko is a fan of the football club “Nikolaev”, representative of the team “Buzkiy Gard”.

Evgeny Fedorovich Yeshchenko was born on October 9, 1994 in Nikolaev. He studied at school No. 20, as well as at Marine Lyceum No. 5. At an early age, he was fond of contact martial arts, engaged in kyokushinkai karate, a multiple medalist of competitions of various levels. He always played sports, ran a lot and was physically developed. Later he fell in love with the mountains and was fond of hiking, climbed Pip Ivan and Petros.

In 2011, he began to visit the fan sector of IFC “Nikolaev”. In the summer of 2011, the team “Buzhsky Gard” was formed in the city, and Eugene from the first days of the existence of the fan group became an integral part of it. From the youth composition, he almost immediately got to the main one.

According to the memories of teammates: - “At that time, the main composition of the company did not attract young people, having an almost ideal age format for itself, but after the first agreed fight of the youth wing - Zheka immediately got into the basics, speaking on both youth and main topics of the team. Despite the urine received during the fight, he always stood until the end.”

With the start of the Revolution of Dignity, the Nikolaev fan movement actively manifested itself in its native city, and some representatives resisted criminal authorities on the streets of the capital. “Maly” was one of those who took part in the significant revolutionary events of both Nikolaev and Kyiv.

As soon as the war in the East began, the base of the BG team joined the battalion (at that time) “Azov”. Together with friends in the fan sector, and now brothers, Evgeny liberated Mariupol in 2014, a participant in the fighting in Shyrokino. In the following years, he decided to link his life with Azov, constantly improving in military affairs.

Despite the service, he did not forget about the fan family and took part in all the international fights, which the team confidently held in the second half of the 10 years. In 2020, he married his beloved Julia, in that year the young couple had a daughter, Alexander. Eugene saw himself only as a military man, always tried to acquire new skills, did not spend his free time simply, planned to get a higher education and build a military career.

The beginning of a full-scale war “Maly” met as part of the reconnaissance group “Azov” in Mariupol. Communicating with his brothers, he asked to take care of his mother, knew that there would be difficult battles ahead and was fully aware of all the possible consequences. As in the fights, he had no back, the experience gained over the years of service gave confidence in his own actions, so he definitely did not feel fear, on the contrary, he expected the most difficult battles.

His group resisted the enemy offensive in the most dangerous areas of the breakouts, carrying out a very large amount of work. Yevgeny Yeshchenko died on March 20, 2022 during an assault on one of the positions. He took the last fight together with his close friend Konstantin Belymenko. Awarded the Order “For Courage” III degree (posthumously).