Nikolai “Smurfik” Volkov is a fan of the football club “Mariupol”.

Nikolai Nikolaevich Volkov was born on February 25, 1999 in the city of Mariupol. He graduated from 9 classes of the Mariupol School No. 4, after which he entered the Mariupol Electromechanical Technical School - in the specialty “electrician”. He was an active fan of FC “Mariupol”, constantly trained, attended sports sections on boxing and kickboxing, performing at an amateur level. Participated in mass sports events of the city, promoted a healthy lifestyle.

Friends of Nikolai say that the time of his formation as a person and patriot fell precisely at the time of active hostilities in the Donbas. From a young age, the guy chose Ukraine. At the age of 16 he came to the Azov Civil Corps, participated in patriotic actions and schools. At the same time, the Smurfs loved travel as much as football. He visited many cities of Ukraine, often hitchhiked. In the 2017/18 season, at the age of 18, he kicked off the “golden season”. He did everything to make his favorite team have as many fans as possible. He made sketches of banners, searched for paint and fabric for performances in the sector.

Even then, Nikolai wanted to fight for the independence of Ukraine in the ranks of the Armed Forces, but a severe skull injury received in childhood did not give a chance to get into the army or the welfare state. Not having the appropriate medical education, he decided to help our wounded soldiers at the call of his soul and in June 2018 he was trained at the training center “Hospitallers” - a battalion of the Ukrainian Volunteer Army. On July 1, 2018, he went to his first rotation in the village of Pisky Yasiki Nuvata district of Donetsk region as part of the medical group “Asap — Sands”. Nikolai managed to save the lives of several fighters by evacuating them from the front line and providing the necessary medical care in time.

Since the fall of 2018, he was assigned to the 8th separate battalion of the UDA “Aratta” with the nickname “Smurfik”. He performed tasks in the area of the city of Mariupol, rescued Ukrainian fighters in Shyrokyne, Pisky, Vodyan. On April 10, 2019, near the village of Vodiane (Donetsk region), a brave young man was seriously wounded by a sniper bullet in the head. In critical condition, he was evacuated to the hospital of the city of Dnipro. For five days, doctors fought for the life of a brave fan. Nikolai Volkov died on April 15, 2019. He was buried on the Alley of Glory of the Old Crimean cemetery in his hometown. On March 13, 2020, he was awarded the Order “For Courage” III degree (posthumously).