Volodymyr I. Samolenko (Vovan)

He served his mandatory military service near Leningrad, and in the 1990s, he served under contract in a separate brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine, responsible for the protection of diplomatic missions and consular institutions of foreign states in Ukraine. Since May 2014, he served in the military reserve of the National Guard of Ukraine as a grenade launcher in the special forces battalion "Donbas." During the battles for Ilovaisk, while rescuing a truck with ammunition from shelling, Volodymyr sustained a shrapnel wound to his arm, and after treatment, he returned to his unit. Lora Artyuhina, director of the "Babylon 13" studio: "The modest warrior Vovan: 'I am ready to fight for 15 centimeters of my land!'. 'There are such people. Quiet, calm, modest. However, they understand everything, will always lend a shoulder, support, and calm you down. Volodymyr, with the call sign Vovan in the battalion, was called up during the Maidan. He ended up in the hospital after shelling in Ilovaisk. His eyes radiate kindness and light, and after talking to him, one feels calmer. Only his comrades convinced him to go to the hospital. He didn't want to. He thought he had a light injury and that he should stay and fight: 'How can I leave? There are my people there!'. His thoughts were only about returning to the front, finishing the war as soon as possible, and ensuring everyone stayed alive. 'We are all friends! Everyone is there for each other. One for all! All for one! And to the end! When asked, 'Why did you enlist in the battalion?', he answers without hesitation: 'I came to defend my homeland.' Vovan is from the Poltava region, a system administrator by profession, but with a military background. He served in rapid response forces near Leningrad, and in the 1990s, he guarded embassies in Kyiv. Like other fighters, he did not consider himself a hero: 'We are military, we have to go through this.' His soul ached for the local civilians. He spoke about them with special tenderness: 'I feel the most sorry for the peaceful residents, that they are going through all this. Fear in their eyes, they cry. They were surprised why they were shooting at civilians. Our side did not shoot at any residential areas. I know for sure: there was no order. They (those on the other side of the front) do not care about anything… In Ilovaisk, there were fierce battles, but we practically took it. They, the bastards, are fighting back… We must not give them a break because they are fortifying themselves. The question 'Who is fighting on the other side?' does not arise for any of the fighters: 'There is a very big difference in equipment. You see, even with such weapons, we hammered and will keep hammering. Because we are fighting for the truth, and they are fighting for money. If it smells like fried, they run away. Because it's for money. The only thing they can do is give weapons to the locals, zombify them, and run away.' He said that he would hold the Independence Day parade without equipment, as it was very much needed there, at the front. However, he did not complain about the command. He thought more about ordinary people, volunteers: 'Volunteers come in droves. I don't know what to say to people… Care… I feel uncomfortable. It almost brings me to tears… I am grateful to the people who helped a lot in Artemivsk, Kurakhove. Their contribution is also in the fact that we are holding on.' His relatives did not come to the hospital. He initially hid it from his wife, but she understood anyway: 'How do women feel this way?' We talked with Vovan in the Mechnikov hospital in Dnipro after the events in Ilovaisk. Today we learned that he died near Debaltseve. Eternal memory to the Hero!