Illia Samoilenko ( uk, Ілля Сергійович Самойленко; born 10 July 1994) is a Ukrainian serviceman, an intelligence officer of the
Azov Regiment
The Special Operations Detachment "Azov" (), also known as the Azov Regiment ( uk, Полк «Азов», translit=Polk "Azov") and formerly the Azov Battalion ( uk, батальйон «Азов», translit=Batalion "Azov"), is a unit of the ...
of the
National Guard of Ukraine
The National Guard of Ukraine (NGU; uk, Націона́льна гва́рдія Украї́ни, Natsionalna hvardiia Ukrainy, , ) is the Ukrainian national gendarmerie and internal military force. It is part of the Ministry of Internal ...
, and a participant in the
Russian-Ukrainian war
The Russo-Ukrainian War; uk, російсько-українська війна, rosiisko-ukrainska viina. has been ongoing between Russia (alongside Russian separatists in Ukraine) and Ukraine since February 2014. Following Ukraine's Rev ...
.
Biography
Samoilenko studied at the Faculty of History of the
Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv
Kyiv University or Shevchenko University or officially the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv ( uk, Київський національний університет імені Тараса Шевченка), colloquially known as KNU ...
. He dreams of completing his studies after the war. His callsign is Gandalf.
In 2015, he began military service in the
ATO/OOS zone as part of the Azov Regiment when he was 21 years old. He lost his left arm and right eye during the fighting (he now has a titanium mechanical prosthesis and an artificial eye).
Since the beginning of the blockade of
Mariupol
Mariupol (, ; uk, Маріу́поль ; russian: Мариу́поль) is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast ( Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius River. Prior to the 2022 Russi ...
, he and his colleagues were in the
Azovstal iron and steel works. From the basement of the plant, Samoilenko gave several news updates. On May 8, 2022, he held a press conference for representatives of foreign media in English.
He was captured on May 20, 2022. In an interview to the BBC he said that he was held in
solitary confinement
Solitary confinement is a form of imprisonment in which the inmate lives in a single cell with little or no meaningful contact with other people. A prison may enforce stricter measures to control contraband on a solitary prisoner and use addit ...
in Russia for 120 days.
On September 21, 2022, he was released from captivity.
References
Sources
Harrowing photos offer rare glimpse of wounded soldiers in besieged Mariupol steel plant// Today.
Inside Mariupol steel plant as army chief describes horror of being bombed for 73 days// Mirror.
* ''Яна Осадца''
Замість руки — титановий протез: цікаві факти про Іллю Самойленка з «Азова»// Українська правда, May 9, 2022
// Укрінформ, May 9, 2022
* ''Єлизавета Герасимюк'', [https://24tv.ua/tyazhke%20poranennya%20ne%20privid%20zupinyatisya%20neymovirna%20istoriya%20biytsya%20azovu%20n1199841 Тяжке поранення — не привід зупинятися: неймовірна історія бійця «Азову»] // 24 канал, September 6, 2019
{{DEFAULTSORT:Samoilenko, Illia
Living people
1994 births
Ukrainian military personnel of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
Ukrainian amputees