Not long ago, Oleksandr Smoliar was a cadet at Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs. Today, Police Senior Lieutenant Oleksandr Smoliar is one of those who go where others try to leave as quickly as possible. To places where there are fragments underfoot, enemy drones overhead, and people in the vehicle for whom the journey may be the road to survival.

Oleksandr Smoliar studied at KhNUIA from 2021 to 2024, majoring in Law Enforcement at Faculty No. 3. In 2026, he earned a master’s degree in Psychology.

One of the first to volunteer, Oleksandr joined the police special unit “White Angels.” He has carried out 92 evacuation missions and helped rescue at least 206 people, including 26 children and 34 people with limited mobility. He evacuated pregnant women, children, and elderly people from dangerous areas — everyone who needed help the most.

Behind every number is a personal human story: someone whose home has already been destroyed, someone who has spent several days hiding in a basement, someone unable to move independently, or someone simply afraid to leave the place they had called home all their life…

Not every evacuation mission ended without consequences for the police officers themselves. During one such operation, Oleksandr sustained serious injuries as a result of an enemy drone strike. Two of his fellow officers were killed, including KhNUIA graduate, Senior Police Lieutenant Yuliia Keleberda.

After recovering, Oleksandr returned to service to once again go out for those waiting to be rescued.

On August 12, Youth Day, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy personally presented Oleksandr Smoliar with a state award — the Order of Merit, 3rd Class.

Behind this award are dangerous missions, endured pain, the loss of fellow officers, and hundreds of people whom Oleksandr helped to survive.

For the University, Oleksandr Smoliar is a graduate of whom we can truly be proud. The profession of a law enforcement officer is not only about a uniform, rank, or diploma. It is about being able to stay by a person’s side when they are most afraid, make decisions in dangerous circumstances, return to service after hardships, and once again go where help is needed.

His journey began in the classrooms of KhNUIA and continued where service demands courage, resilience, and a willingness to risk one’s life for others every day. Today, the best evidence of this journey is not only the state award, but, above all, the lives of the people who, thanks to Oleksandr, were given a chance to survive.