Valerii Krasnian

Valerii Ivanovych Krasnian (; 20 February 1971, Hlyboka, Chernivtsi Oblast — 23 November 2022, Kharkiv Oblast ) was a Ukrainian volunteer, one of the symbols of the fight for Donetsk airport ("cyborg"), a serviceman of the 107th Territorial Defense Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, a participant in the Russian-Ukrainian war.

Biography Valerii Krasnian was born on 20 February 1971 in Hlyboka, now the Hlyboka Hromada, Chernivtsi Raion, Chernivtsi Oblast, Ukraine. Krasnian studied at Hlyboka secondary school.

Volunteering to fight In the Fall of 2014, he volunteered for the Aidar battalion. He participated in the battles for Shchastia, Vesela Hora, Metalist, Savur-Mohyla. Krasnian took the wounded out of Ilovaisk. Later he joined the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps under call sign Bars and was appointed commander of the 2nd Assault Company of the 5th Battalion. The company fought in the hottest spots – Pisky, Donetsk airport, Butivka coal mine.

Supporting veterans In 2015, he became the head of the Center for Assistance to ATO Participants.

Defending Ukraine in 2022

With the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, he returned from abroad and joined the Ukrainian Volunteer Army in February 2022 (where he headed the Bars Company in his native 5th Battalion), and in the summer of 2022 – the 107th Territorial Defense Brigade. He participated in the battles for Kyiv, Kharkiv and Kharkiv Oblast.

Krasnian died on 23 November 2022 during a combat mission in the Kharkiv Oblast, from a bomb explosion. He is survived by his wife, daughter and son. Order "People's Hero of Ukraine" (2018)

Honoring the memory In February 2023, a memorial plaque to Valerii Krasnian was unveiled on the facade of the Hlyboka Gymnasium.

Interesting facts A wax figure of the Chernivtsi "cyborg" Valerii Krasnian was made for the exhibition "Nashi" of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War, which stands against the background of the DAP tower.