Artem “Pyrotechnik” Antonenko is a fan of the football club “Shakhtar” (Donetsk).
Artem Igorovich Antonenko was born on July 8, 1997 in the city of Lysychansk (Luhansk region). He studied at school No. 27, as well as at the National Aerospace University named after him. M. IS. Zhukovsky. Since childhood, he was kind, active and purposeful, engaged in oriental martial arts and football.
In 2016, Artem first got into the fan sector of Shakhtar. Teammates remember him as an integral part of the sector. The devoted fan has tried not to miss the team's home and away games for several seasons. He especially liked the use of pyro in the sector, which later influenced the choice of callsign in the army.
One of Artem's teammates recalls the times of Shakhtar's performance in Kharkiv, namely the first matches after the move. - “Artem, I don't know the guy at that time, he lit a fire during the goal, we celebrated a goal, then at the end another one. As usual reception after the ball, we waited for it. Admin, everything is as usual, nothing new. But this did not stop him, and already at the next match, one of the representatives of the sector comes to me and says that Artem “Pyrotechnic” has carried black smoke and wants to light it. The “representative” and I had a beacon, so after the goal, the “Pyrotechnician” lights up, and we are behind him. These pictures were very bright at the time. Reception again (one Artem was detained then, because we were not identified). After that, they began to communicate more, to agree on joint trips. He has always been the soul of the company, dear far away, we joke all the way without stopping. Going to Odessa for the Super Cup, Dnipro, we were always together.”
They mention the love for Shakhtar and Artem's family. On his body he had a tattoo related to the club and movement. And one day he brought home a little black kitten, calling him Miner. It was the favorite of the whole family.
From an early age, Artem was interested in entrepreneurial activity. At the age of 15, he already ran his first business, an online store. According to the memories of his relatives, he was a leader by nature and very hardworking. People were drawn to it like a light.
Artem experienced the Revolution of Dignity very personally. As a teenager, he followed the news, had his own impartial attitude to events. Arriving in March 2014 with his family in Kyiv and passing through the Maidan, which was still in the smog of street battles, he was impressed by the resilience of society, the will to freedom of choice.
Relatives recall that Artem has always been a patriot, but it was the revolutionary events that imprinted in him the understanding that it is necessary to fight for the truth and a better future. Soon his father went to serve in the ATO, which Artem respected very much.
Having started training in KHAI, in 2016-18 he also held a military department at the Kharkiv National University of the Air Forces named after him. Ivan Kozhedub.
After the beginning of a full-scale war, he voluntarily took up arms. Because of his education, he received offers of a “cabinet position in the rear”, but refused. With the rank of senior lieutenant, he was deputy company commander in the 54th OMB.
Artem Antonenko died on June 3, 2024 while performing a combat mission in Donetsk Oblast.
Eternal glory to the Hero!
