Vladimir “Champion” Radionov is a fan of the football club “Zarya” (Luhansk), a representative of the team “Vost'23".

Vladimir Alexandrovich Radionov was born on November 7, 1988 in the city of Luhansk. Relatives recall that from an early age he knew and understood that his homeland is Ukraine. As a child, my mother carried a boy from Luhansk to Prykolotny, in Kharkiv region, where his grandmother gave her grandson hand-made embroidered shirts, which he wore for morning holidays in kindergarten. After school, the young man entered the Luhansk Agrarian University, in the first year he became an active fan of Zori. I traveled with friends all over the country, and once asked my mother: - “And why do people go abroad? We have such a beautiful Ukraine!”

With the beginning of the revolutionary events in Kiev, Vladimir was going to go to the capital Maidan, but his parents did not let go. Soon it became restless in Luhansk. Together with friends, they patrolled the streets of the night city. It was not possible to defend Luhansk, and then he, with four other teammates, began to gather to leave the city. After calling home, he calmed his parents, said that he went to Kiev, works in construction, and sweaty got a job at a gas station. In fact, Luhansk fans went to Mariupol, where they were among the first to join the ranks of the then battalion “Azov”.

At Azov, Champion was an ordinary soldier for a short time, quickly rising to the commander of an auto platoon and deputy company commander for equipment. At the stage of preparation of the Pavlopil-Shyrokyn operation, he rejected the offer of his older brothers to become the commander of the BTR, opting for the armored car “Spartan”. On it, Vladimir fought, covered the offensive, brought food and ammunition, carried the wounded under shelling.

For the last time Vladimir Radionov got behind the wheel of his “Spartan” on February 14, 2015. On that day, the enemy, pulling forces from Debaltseve to Shyrokyne, went into a counterattack. The “Champion” together with his brother evacuated the wounded from the first line of defense, along which the enemy worked closely. During the task, the armored car was hit by an enemy tank. Having received numerous shrapnel wounds incompatible with life, the courageous fan died on the spot.

The “Champion” was buried in Prykolotny, where he spent holidays with his grandmother as a child, next to the graves of his relatives. By the Decree of the President of Ukraine dated May 15, 2015, he was awarded the Order “For Courage” III degree (posthumously). In August 2018, a nationalist hub was opened in Kharkiv, a sports hall dedicated to the memory of Vladimir Radionov. The corner of memory of the fallen Warrior is also in the museum of the Prykolotnyansk secondary school.