Oleksandr Hryhorovych Lelechenko (26 July 1938, Novoorikhivka village, Poltava Oblast – 7 May 1986, Kyiv) was a liquidator of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident, Deputy Head of the Electrical Department of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, and a Hero of Ukraine.
Oleksandr was born on 26 July 1938 in the village of Novoorikhivka, Lubny District, Poltava Oblast. After graduating from secondary school, he enrolled at the Kharkiv Aviation School, where he studied to become an air navigator. From 1961 to 1966, he studied at the Faculty of Electric Power Engineering (now the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Automation) of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, earning a degree in Electrical Engineering with a specialization in Power Stations.
Upon graduation, he began his professional career at the Sloviansk State District Power Plant. He later worked at the Zaporizhzhia State District Power Plant in the city of Enerhodar, in the Thermal Automation and Instrumentation Department. In 1975, he was appointed Deputy Head of the Electrical Department at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant.
On 26 April 1986, following the explosion of Reactor No. 4 at the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant, Oleksandr Lelechenko entered the electrolysis facility three times to shut off the hydrogen supply to the emergency generators. Standing knee-deep in highly radioactive water, he assessed the condition of the electrical switchgear and worked to restore power to the feedwater pumps. The total radiation dose he received reached approximately 2,500 rad. After receiving first aid at the medical unit in the city of Prypiat, he returned to the power unit and continued working for several more hours.
Oleksandr Hryhorovych died on 7 May 1986 in the Radiation Pathology Department in Kyiv. He was buried at the cemetery in the village of Stepne, Poltava District, Poltava Oblast.
In 2021, the memory of Hero of Ukraine Oleksandr Lelechenko was commemorated at Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute. A monument honoring this distinguished alumnus was unveiled in front of the building of his alma mater, the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Automation.