Yurii O. Samoilenko (Yaniv)

Samojlenko Yurij Olegovich was born on December 13, 1987 in the city of Obukhiv, Kyiv region. He studied at secondary school No. 5, and in the senior grades transferred to Obukhiv Lyceum No. 1 named after A. Malyshko. In 2006, he entered the Interregional Academy of Personnel Management, majoring in "Management of Local Government Organizations". For some time he worked in trade, and later went on a contract service to a military unit in the village of Pidhirtsi, Obukhiv district. In 2014, he became a volunteer in the special police battalion "Zoloti Vorota". During his service in the battalion, he met and began dating his future wife, who also served in the battalion. In 2016, the couple got married. Later, a daughter was born in the family. In 2016, he resigned and entered the National Defense University of Ukraine named after Ivan Chernyakhovsky, where he studied and underwent training under the reserve officer training program. He worked as a shooting instructor at the shooting range. Later, he signed a contract with the Armed Forces of Ukraine, served in the 135th Territorial Defense Battalion of the Obukhiv district. After the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, he became the leader of a group of football hooligans of the "Arsenal-Kyiv" club, who went to serve in the territorial defense. Yurij himself was a long-time participant in the anti-fascist movement. In the summer of 2022, he was transferred to the 6th battalion of the Volunteer Ukrainian Corps, where he held the position of deputy battalion commander, and later - company commander. He took part in the Balakliia breakthrough, and on one of the combat missions on September 9, he received a gunshot wound to the abdomen. He was evacuated to the hospital, where he was operated on, but on September 10 at 1:40 am the hero's heart stopped. For personal courage and selfless actions manifested in the defense of the state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, loyalty to the military oath, Samojlenko Yurij Olegovich was awarded the Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky of the III degree.