Viacheslav O. Matviienko (Siava)

Senior Soldier Vyacheslav Matviyenko (call sign Siawa, Island) was killed in action on March 22, 2022, while performing a combat mission in Mariupol, Donetsk region. The defender would have turned 32 on April 15. Vyacheslav was born in Donetsk. He stu at school No. 25 in Makiivka. Since childhood, he was fond of football and painting, read a lot. Later, he obtained a degree as a water supply and sewage technologist at the Donetsk Polytechnic Technical School. Since the age of 16, he was a member of the fan sector of FC Shakhtar (Donetsk). In 2011, he married his beloved Khrystyna. When the Russian-Ukrainian war began in 2014, he moved with his wife to Dnipropetrovsk region. The following year, a daughter was born to the couple, and they decided to move to Mariupol. There, Vyacheslav decided to go and defend his native Donbas. In 2016, he signed a contract with the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He served in the 54th Separate Mechanized Brigade. He had the call sign Siawa. He participated in the ATO / OOS in Donetsk and Luhansk regions. In 2019, he transferred to the separate special purpose unit of the National Guard of Ukraine "Azov", where he served until his death. In the new unit, he took on a new call sign - Island. Since the first days of the full-scale war, Vyacheslav, together with his comrades, defended Mariupol and the Azovstal plant. He held the position of gunner-grenade launcher in the fire support platoon. "During my first mahach against the Luhansk people in the distant 2006, he was in the first row, and I was behind. He turned around and said: 'Cover me'. In 2010, it seems, on a large mahach against Zaporizhia, I was behind him again: 'Siawa, I'm behind again. I'm covering you'. We put on caps - looked at each other, laughed. We were not close friends, but we were on the same wavelength. Or, as the fans say, in the same 'composition'... And, Siawa, you will be greatly missed in our 'composition'... Rest in peace, Siawa! We will cover you!", wrote the deceased's comrade-in-arms, Vitaliy Ovcharenko. "In 2017, during his service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, he began writing a book. Unfortunately, it was in electronic form and remained in the phone. The book was about the struggle that we must wage both in war and in everyday life. He thought a lot about what he would do if not for the war. And more and more often came to the conclusion that he could no longer live without this struggle", added the relatives. Vyacheslav is survived by his parents, wife, daughter, other relatives, numerous friends and comrades-in-arms. Posthumously, the defender was awarded the Order of "Courage" III degree.