Among the 176 people on board of the Ukraine International Airlines flight PS752 that crashed shortly after taking off from the Tehran airport on Jan. 8, were 11 Ukrainian citizens, including nine crew members and two passengers.
Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) published the names of the nine crew members that were killed in the crash. They were:
- Volodymyr Gaponenko (chief pilot);
- Oleksiy Naumkin (pilot);
- Serhiy Khomenko (first officer);
- Kateryna Statnik (flight attendant);
- Ihor Matkov (flight attendant);
- Maria Mykytiuk (flight attendant);
- Denys Lykhno (flight attendant);
- Valeria Ovcharuk (flight attendant);
- Yulia Sologub (flight attendant).
The crew members serving the flight PS752 that crashed in Iran on Jan. 8 were among the best in the Ukraine International Airlines’ team, the company’s CEO Yevhen Dykhne told journalists in Kyiv a few hours after the tragedy. He was crying when delivering the statement.
Volodymyr Gaponenko
chief pilot
Volodymyr Gaponenko was the commander of the PS752 crew. A career pilot, he leaves a wife and two daughters.
“He was living for aviation, that was his life… He was a truly great pilot,” Gaponenko’s widow Ekaterina said to NewsOne TV channel. His colleagues, friends, and family have been calling their home to express condolences from the early morning, she said.
“We have two kids. I have to be strong,” she added.
She learned about her husband’s death from the news after she woke up on Jan. 8.
“I did not want to learn it from the news, I should have been informed about it firsthand from the UIA,” she said. UIA said they didn’t reach out to anyone before they were confident about what happened.
Gaponenko graduated from the Flight School of Civil Aviation in Kropyvnytskiy, formerly known as Kirovohrad, which is currently a part of the Kyiv-based National Aviation University.
“National Aviation University expresses deep condolences to the families and loved ones of those killed in the airplane crash. We will always remember those whose souls will forever remain in a flight…,” the university said in a statement.
Gaponenko piloted Boeing 737 planes for more than 11,600 hours during his career, according to UIA.
Oleksiy Naumkin
pilot
An experienced pilot Naumkin had more than 12,000 hours of experience as a pilot of Boeing 737 planes. At the PS752 flight, he was a reserve pilot. Naumkin was called on to join the other two pilots to reinforce the crew. It was due to the complexity and duration of the flight, according to UIA.
Naumkin was not active on social media. His Facebook account has only two photographs of him — both from his visit to London in August 2014. One shows him posing in front of the Canary Warf skyscrapers. Another one is a selfie, which he took near Big Ben, the striking clock of Westminster Palace.
Ukrainians leave condolences on his Facebook page. One of Naumkin’s university classmates, Sergiy Chorniy, said in a Facebook post: “He was among the best pilots in the entire course. He was a decent person from the pilots’ dynasty. Rest in peace, friend.”
Serhiy Khomenko
first officer
Khomenko spent 7,600 hours in the sky while working on Boeing 737 aircraft.
“Unfortunately, in such a situation the pilots were powerless and got caught in a situation. Nothing can save them in such conditions,” said Ukrainian National Pilots Union in a statement expressing their condolences.
Ekaterina Statnik
senior flight attendant
Ekaterina Statnik, 27, was the senior flight attendant in the PS752 crew. She worked at Ukraine International Airlines for seven years and lived in Kyiv.
Tata Kovnatskaya, who’s also been a flight attendant at UIA since 2016, told the Kyiv Post that Statnik was “an unbelievably easygoing person.” Kovnatskaya said many people in the company knew Statnik well “and everybody was friends with her.” Kovnatskaya described her as “stylish and sporty.”
Statnik loved to travel, but celebrated New Year Eve in her home town, Kyiv, according to her Instagram account. In 2011, Statnik created an account on online casting platform Acmodasi to apply to auditions for films, TV series, commercials.
“I personally can’t believe that Ekaterina isn’t with us anymore,” Kovnatskaya said.
Natalia Petrenko, Statnik’s tutor who prepared her for a general knowledge assessment test after high school, wrote on Twitter that Statnik was “a nice girl.” She was also the daughter of Petrenko’s friend. “I don’t have the courage to call my friend,” Petrenko wrote. “I’m crying.”
Ihor Matkov
senior flight attendant
Matkov, 34, worked for Ukraine International Airlines for 10 years.
“Last night we wished him a good flight. He waved us a hand when leaving (for Tehran). He told me ‘Mom, I will be home in the morning’,” Matkov’s mother said to the Ukrainian media outlet Obozveratel on Jan. 8 at Boryspil International Airport.
Without naming the woman, Obozrevatel says that she and Matkov’s father learned about the crash from the news. They came to the airport where the plane was to land, looking for more information.
“He was a shining personality, a very friendly and open-minded person,” Julia Rudnik, a friend of Ihor Matkov told the Kyiv Post in a Facebook message. They studied Arabic together in the Kyiv National Linguistic University.
“Ihor was a bright person, who has to be remembered for the best,” another university friend Vladyslav Pérez told the Kyiv Post.
Maria Mykytiuk
flight attendant
Maria Mykytiuk, 24, was one of six flight attendants on the PS752 flight.
Mykytiuk had visited 23 countries, according to her Instagram account. She used to regularly share photographs from different parts of the world. Her last picture, posted in December, was from Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates. In it, Mykytiuk is smiling at the camera with the night city behind her.
She was born in Ivano-Frankivsk, a city located 620 kilometers west of Kyiv. Like several other crew members, she was a graduate of the National Aviation University in Kyiv. She graduated in 2018, according to a Telegram channel Nauchan News.
Mykytiuk’s classmates said in a statement on Telegram: “Masha was a very bright, beautiful, cheerful and soulful girl… a real example for her fellow students…She loved the sky and was very proud of her job.”
Maria Kodenchuk, a former flight attendant who used to be a roommate of Mykytiuk when they stayed at hotels in the foreign destinations they were flying to, remembers her warmly.
“UIA books twin rooms for the staff so it is important so the colleague who stays with you is interesting and friendly, with whom you can go for a walk or take a few pictures or just share a meal,” Kodenchuk told the Kyiv Post in an Instagram message. “She has always reminded me of an actress… She is my age so we always had things to discuss. She was very nice to work with and very professional.”
Denys Lykhno
flight attendant
Denys Lykhno was a newcomer to the UIA team. He has been working for a company for two years and served as a flight attendant on the flight PS752.
Overall he had spent five years working in aviation, his father Mykhailo Lykhno told Segodnya news outlet.
Lykhno graduated from the National Aviation University in 2018, as did Maria Mykytiuk, another flight attendant killed in the crash.
“He was a good chap and a cool friend,” his classmates said in a statement on Telegram channel Nauchan News. “It has always seemed that he will live a long and successful life.”
On his last photograph, shared on Instagram two months earlier during a vacation in Thailand, Lykhno is hugging his girlfriend and smiling. He wrote back then: “Thailand was memorable.”
Since the news about the crash broke, Lykhno’s friends have been leaving mournful comments on his Instagram.
Valeriia Ovcharuk
Flight attendant
Valeriia Ovcharuk, 28, loved to travel. She posted more than 400 photographs from her travels to numerous countries and wrote funny texts describing her adventures, sometimes in English. She had worked for Ukraine International Airlines as a flight attendant for six years, according to her social media accounts. Born in Luhansk, Ovcharuk lived in Kyiv (her first photos in Kyiv appeared on social media in 2013). Among Ovcharuk’s friends, there were other flight attendants and pilots.
“It’s scary that such a thing happened,” her Facebook friend Maria Parfenova posted.
Ovcharuk’s last Instagram photograph was published in February 2019. In her bio on the social media platform, she included a quote from an R. Kelly song: “I believe I can fly, I believe I can touch the sky.”
Yulia Sologub
flight attendant
Yulia Sologub, 25, was born in Novovolynsk city of Volyn Oblast, some 500 kilometers west from Kyiv, and lived in the capital. In 2016, she graduated from Kyiv National Linguistic University with a major in the French language.
Sologub got married a little more than a year ago, according to her Facebook. Her social media profiles have many photos of her smiling and holding flowers. She worked as a flight attendant for about six months, Ukrainian media reported.
Her childhood friend, a journalist Andriy Kravchenko, wrote on Facebook: “She was great and bright.” He left this comment along with a photo of an airplane turned into a mourning candle.
“This is horrible. I love and remember you, Yulichka,” he wrote.
Passengers
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko published a list of the citizenships of the passengers on the flight: Iran – 82, Canada – 63, Ukraine – 11, Sweden – 10, Afghanistan – 4, Germany – 3, United Kingdom – 3. Of the Ukrainian victims, two were passengers, while the other nine were crew members.
UIA published a full list of PS752 passengers with their years of birth:
Abaspourqadi Mohamm 1986
Abbasnezhad Mojtaba 1993
Abtahiforoushani Seyedmehran 1982
Aghabali Iman 1991
Agha Miri Maryam 1973
Ahmadi Motahereh 2011
Ahmadi Muh Sen 2014
Ahmadi Rahmtin 2010
Ahmadi Sekinhe 1989
Ahmady Mitra 1973
Amirliravi Mahsa 1989
Arasteh Fareed 1987
Arbabbahrami Arshia 2000
Arsalani Evin 1990
Asadilari Mohammadhossein 1996
Asadilari Zeynab 1998
Ashrafi Habibabadi Amir 1991
Attar Mahmood 1950
Azadian Roja 1977
Azhdari Ghanimat 1983
Badiei Ardestani Mehraban 2001
Bashiri Samira 1990
Beiruti Mohammad Amin 1990
Borghei Negar 1989
Choupannejad Shekoufeh 1963
Dadashnejad Delaram 1993
Daneshmand Mojgan 1976
Dhirani Asgar 1945
Djavadi Asll Hamidreza 1967
Djavadi Asll Kian 2002
Ebnoddin Hamidi Ardalan 1971
Ebnoddin Hamidi Kamyar 2004
Ebrahim Niloufar 1985
Ebrahimi Khoei Behnaz 1974
Eghbali Bazoft Shahrokh 1960
Eghbali Bazoft Shahzad 2011
Eghbalian Parisa 1977
Elyasi Mohammad Mahdi 1991
Emami Sayedmahdi 1959
Emami Sophie 2014
Eshaghian Dorcheh Mehdi 1995
Esmaeilion Reera 2010
Esnaashary Esfahani Mansour 1990
Faghihi Sharieh 1961
Falsafi Faezeh 1973
Falsafi Faraz 1988
Farzaneh Aida 1986
Feghahati Shakiba 1980
Foroutan Marzieh 1982
Ghaderpanah Iman 1985
Ghaderpanah Parinaz 1986
Ghafouri Azar Siavash 1984
Ghandchi Daniel 2011
Ghandchi Dorsa 2003
Ghasemi Ariani Milad 1987
Ghasemi Dastjerdi Fatemeh 1994
Ghasemi Amirhossein 1987
Ghasemi Kiana 2000
Ghavi Mandieh 1999
Ghavi Masoumeh 1989
Gholami Farideh 1981
Ghorbani Bahabadi A 1998
Golbabapour Suzan 1970
Gorji Pouneh 1994
Haghjoo Saharnaz 1982
Hajesfandiari Bahareh 1978
Hajiaghavand Sadaf 1992
Hajighassemi Mandieh 1981
Hamzeei Sara 1986
Hasani/sadi Zahra 1994
Hashemi Shanrzad 1974
Hassannezhad Parsa 2003
Hatefi Mostaghim Sahan 1987
Hayatdavoudi Hadis 1992
Jadidi Elsa 2011
Jadidi Pedran 1991
Jamshidi Shadi 1988
Jebelli Mohammaddam 1990
Kadkhoda Zaden Mohammaddam 1979
Kadkhodazaden Kasha 1990
Karamimoghadam Bahareh 1986
Katebi Rahimen 1999
Kaveh Azaden 1979
Kazerani Fatemeh 1987
Khadem Forough 1981
Kobiuk Olga 1958
Lindberg Emil 2012
Lindberg Erik 2010
Lindberg Raheleh 1982
Lindberg Mikael 1979
Madani Firouzeh 1965
Maghsoudlouestarabadi Siavash 1976
Maghsoudlouesterabadi Paria 2004
Mahmoodi Fatemeh 1989
Malakhova Olena 1981
Malek Maryam 1979
Maleki Dizaje Fereshteh 1972
Mamani Sara 1983
Mianji Mohammadjavad 1992
Moeini Mohammad 1984
Moghaddam Rosstin 2010
Mohammadi Mehdi 1999
Molani Hiva 1981
Molani Kurdia 2018
Moradi Amir 1998
Morattab Arvin 1984
Moshrefrazavimoghaddam Soheila 1964
Mousavi Daria 2005
Mousavi Dorina 2010
Mousavibafrooei Pedram 1972
Nabiyi Elnaz 1989
Naderi Farzahen 1981
Naghibi Zahra 1975
Naghib Lahouti Mehr 1987
Nahavandi Milad 1985
Niazi Arnica 2011
Niazi Arsan 2008
Niknam Farhad 1975
Norouzi Alireza 2008
Nourian Ghazal 1993
Oladi Alma 1992
Omidbakhsh Roja 1996
Ovaysi Amir Hossein 1978
Ovaysi Asal 2013
Pasavand Fatemeh 2002
Pey Alireza 1972
Pourghaderi Ayeshe 1983
Pourjam Mansour 1966
Pourshabanoshibi Naser 1966
Pourzarabi Arash 1993
Raana Shahab 1983
Rahimi Jiwan 2016
Rahimi Razgar 1981
Rahmanifar Nasim 1994
Razzaghi Khamsi Ni 1974
Rezai Mahdi 2000
Rezae Hossain 1999
Saadat Saba 1998
Saadat Sara 1996
Saadat Zeinolabedin 1990
Saati Kasra 1972
Sadeghi Alvand 1990
Sadeghi Anisa 2009
Sadeghi Mirmohammad 1976
Sadeghi Sahand 1980
Sadighi Neda 1969
Sadr Niloufar 1958
Sadr Seyednoojan 2008
Saeedinia Amirhosse 1994
Safarpoorkoloor Pe 1999
Saket Mohammadhosse 1986
Salahi Moh 1988
Saleheh Mohammad 1987
Saraeian Sajedeh 1993
Setareh Kokab Hamid 1988
Shadkhoo Sheyda 1978
Shaterpour Khiaban 1988
Soltani Paniz 1991
Tahmasebi Khademasa 1984
Tajik Mahdi 1999
Tajik Shahram 1998
Tarbhai Afifa 1964
Tarbha Alina 1988
Toghian Darya 1997
Zarei Arad 2002
Zibaie Maya 2004
Zokaei Sam 1977
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