Born on 12/30/1982 in the village of Chervona Khvylya, Velykoburlutsk settlement community, Kupyansky district, Kharkiv region. After graduating from 9 classes of Chervona Khvylya comprehensive school of I-II levels in 1997, he decided to study in the city of Chuguiv at PTU-19. While studying at the school during 1997-2000, he lived in the city of Chuguiv in a dormitory. After graduating, he received the specialty of a gas-electric welder.
Dmytro devoted his career to the construction industry. He was engaged in repair and construction work in private companies in Kharkiv and Kyiv. As his sister recalls: «Dmytro loved to fish in his free time. It was fishing that he found peace and rest for the soul. There he truly relaxed, gained strength, and received sincere pleasure from the silence and unity with nature.».
But fate decreed that he would be forever linked to the city of Chuguiv by a full-scale war. First, in 2022, his family suffered from occupation, then there was a brief joy of liberation from occupation in September 2022. The following year, 2023, became a turning point in life for Dmytro's family. Realizing the complexity of the situation and the danger associated with proximity to the front line, the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration suggested that residents of some communities of the Kupyansky district evacuate. Dmytro Hunchenko's family was forced to evacuate and settle in the city of Chuguiv, which became their home.
Dmytro continued to work in the construction sector and left for the city of Kyiv. In November 2024, he was mobilized by the RTCC and the Joint Service in the city of Kyiv. He served in the 17th separate heavy mechanized Kryvyi Rih brigade named after Konstantin Pestushko (military unit A3283) as a senior rifleman-operator of the mechanized detachment.
Circumstances of death:
According to the information of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the operational situation, in March 2025, units of the brigade, including the unit where Dmytro Hunchenko served, participated in combat operations in the Kursk region, including near the settlement of Mala Loknya, Sudzhansky district. The brigade provided fire support for infantry and deterred enemy counterattacks. On 09.03.2025, the enemy launched 29 air strikes (using 35 guided bombs) and carried out more than 420 artillery shells on the positions of Ukrainian troops and settlements of the Sudzhansky district, including the settlement of Mala Loknya, and therefore on that day, according to the Ukrainian monitoring project DeepState, Russian troops were able to occupy this settlement. It was from this time, from 09.03.2025, that Dmytro Hunchenko was considered missing. On March 19, 2025, the family received Notification No. 243 stating that their son was considered missing while performing a combat mission in the Kursk direction near the village of Mala Loknya.
For almost a year, his family believed that Dmytro was alive and would return home, but their hopes were dashed on February 12, 2026. On that day, the mother received notification No. 416 that her son, based on medical certificate of death No. 256 dated 02/04/2026, died while performing a combat mission to protect the territorial integrity of Ukraine in the area of the settlement of Mala Loknya, Kursk Region, on March 9, 2025.
Dmytro Hunchenko's relatives, realizing that their native village of Chervona Khvylia is located in the zone of active hostilities in the Slobozhansky/Kupyansky directions, where the Defense Forces of Ukraine are conducting defensive operations, decided to bury him in the city of Chuhuiv. Dmytro Hunchenko was buried on 02/13/2026 in the city of Chuhuiv on the Alley of Memory with full military honors.
The deceased soldier is survived by his mother, sister, and brother.
«"Dmytro was a kind and sincere person. He was not afraid of any work, he always conscientiously performed everything he undertook. Dmytro willingly helped everyone who turned to him for help, and he did it from the bottom of his heart. He never complained - neither about people nor about life. In his heart there was always a place for kindness, patience and support for others. The bright memory of him will forever remain in our hearts" - this is how his relatives and brothers remember him.