Mykyta Kitikov was born on 16 January 1996 in the village of Novomykolaivka in the Zaporizhzhia region. His childhood and youth passed there, where he finished school and took his first steps toward his future career. After graduation, Mykyta entered a vocational school, where he qualified as a crane operator.
In July 2017, he joined the Zaporizhstal team as a crane operator in the open-hearth furnace shop. He conscientiously performed his duties and was respected by his colleagues. Overall, he worked at Metinvest Group's enterprises for seven years. He also combined his work with pursuing higher education.
Colleagues recall Mykyta as a responsible, calm, and reliable employee; he was a man of his word, someone you could always rely on.
Maksym BABENKO, Head of the Open-hearth Furnace Shop's Trade Union at Zaporizhstal:
"Mykyta was a man who had a very serious attitude to his job and always delivered good results. He was calm, well-tempered, decent, and respected within the team. Such people leave behind good memories about them and a great pain of loss."
In October 2019, Mykyta was called up for military service; after the oath-taking ceremony he signed a contract. During the full-scale invasion, as a junior lieutenant, he took part in combat operations in the Zaporizhzhia area.
Since 2023, Mykyta performed the duties of a company commander in a unit of the National Guard of Ukraine. For his dedicated service, he was promoted to lieutenant.
On 26 February 2025, during exercises at a training ground near the village of Shyroke in the Zaporizhzhia region, the enemy launched a missile strike on the area. Mykyta was severely injured. On 7 March 2025, his heart stopped beating.
He was buried in his hometown of Novomykolaivka. Mykyta is survived by his wife and two sons; the youngest son was born after his father's death.
The Zaporizhstal team bows its head before the heroes and defenders who gave their lives for the future of Ukraine. Their acts of bravery will not be forgotten. The enterprise supports their families, preserves the memory of the fallen, and thanks them for their service, which became part of the history of Ukraine's struggle.
The story of Mykyta, like hundreds of other stories of defenders, is preserved in the Metinvest Group's virtual Memorial, which collects the stories of fallen heroes – employees of the Company.
You can find them at https://metinvest.media/ua/memorial
