A graduate of the university, Dmitry Vasilyevich Bondarenko was a full holder of the Order of Glory with four Orders of Glory and two Orders of the Patriotic War (I and II degrees).

Dmitry Vasilyevich was born on May 20, 1923 on the Malaya Fedorovka farm into a peasant family. He studied at school in the village of Zverevo, graduating in 1941.
On August 23, 1941, he was drafted into the army, and in October 1941, he was sent to the front. In 1943 he graduated from intelligence school and was sent to the 936th Regiment of the 254th Infantry Division of the 52nd Army of the 2nd Ukrainian Front. In January-February 1944, the 936th Infantry Regiment of the 254th Infantry Division took part in the Korsun-Shevchenko operation.
Since March 1944, Bondarenko has been participating in the Uman-Botoshan operation. On the night of March 27-28, 1944, his division crossed the Prut with advanced detachments and captured a small bridgehead, repelling enemy counterattacks.
When crossing the Prut River on March 28, 1944 and in the battle for Bezymyannaya Height on March 31, 1944, Dmitry Bondarenko showed courage and perseverance, twice he was the first to attack, dragging the rest of the soldiers with him, and destroyed up to 9 Romanian soldiers.
On April 22, 1944, for his courage in the Uman-Botosha operation, he was awarded the Order of Glory, III degree. On June 5, 1944 he was wounded. On September 29, 1944, Bondarenko was awarded the Order of Glory, II degree, for the destruction in a battle north of the city of Iasi in May-June 1944 of 2 machine gun points, one heavy machine gun, 18 German soldiers and the capture of 8 more soldiers.
In January 1945, he took part in the Kirovograd offensive operation, where in the battles for the city of Khmelnyk and surrounding settlements he showed initiative and courage, contributed to the fulfillment of the combat missions of his unit, for which on April 10, 1945 he was awarded the Order of Glory, 1st degree.
On April 19, 1945, the division in which Bondarenko served reached Bautzen, but failed to take the city on the move. Only on April 21, 1945, as a result of fierce two-day battles, Bautzen was captured.
During the battle for the city on April 21, 1945, Bondarenko, being in the battle formations of a rifle battalion, repelled an enemy attack and saved the regiment commander, destroying a group of German faustpatrons of 20 people by throwing grenades at them and shooting them with a machine gun.
For the courage and bravery shown in the battle for the city of Bautzen on May 18, 1945, he was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, II degree.
In 1946, he was demobilized and returned to the Rostov region, and ten years later he entered the Law Faculty of Rostov State University. After graduating from university in 1961, he worked as a lawyer at the Kamensk legal clinic.