Viktor "Vihr" Ponomarenko is a fan of the "Metalurg" football club (Donetsk).

Viktor Serhiyovych Ponomarenko was born on June 1, 1998 in the city of Selidove (Donetsk region). He studied at school No. 6, Selidivska gymnasium and school No. 2 in his hometown, which he graduated from. Since childhood, he was fond of boxing, had certain successes and awards in sports. The sports environment itself: football players, boxers, rugby players - were Victor's second family, with whom he spent most of his life. He was with these same people until the last minute.

It so happened that most of the friends in Donetsk supported FC Metalurg, so the first outings were for this club. The family and support of the fans was impressive, the special atmosphere inside and outside the stadium was inspiring. With the beginning of the 14th war, only a small part of the city resisted pro-Russian sentiments. The lion's share of this resistance was the fanatical movement. The fans joined forces and defended the future of the Motherland.

Due to the fact that Viktor was only 16 years old in 2014, he could not go to the ranks of the Armed Forces to defend the state. He did it in 2016, right after he turned 18. Having a great desire to free his native land from the occupiers, he first volunteered. He was sent near the city of Lysychansk, where Viktor served as part of an air reconnaissance brigade. He studied quickly in the circle of professional soldiers. Once he went to smoke a cigarette at a position at night, where he was almost hit by a sniper. It was from that moment that Victor understood that military service is a titanic job that is performed around the clock.

In 2019, he signed a contract with the ZSU. He was one of the first in his movement to experience what it was like to be a paratrooper. After him, the majority of Selydiv fans joined the 81st brigade of the National Football League. Digging trenches, many jumps with parachutes, exhausting training, going on combat missions to the East hardened him and his comrades. The start of a full-scale war "Whirlwind" met on the way from the training center for sniper training. He was chosen as one of the best candidates from his brigade. He managed to learn to be a marksman, received a certificate, but the beginning of the Great War changed his plans.

Almost immediately after the beginning of the invasion, he was sent together with his comrades to the Gulyaipol district (Zaporizhia region), where they held the defense until the beginning of July 2022.
At the beginning of July, Victor and his brothers were transferred to the Motherland, to a position near the city of Siversk (Donetsk region). The guys were especially impressed by the pace of the fighting and the amount of artillery. Once, together with his platoon, "Whirlwind" could not leave the shelter for more than 8 hours due to massive shelling.

The constant assaults and counterattacks were very exhausting to the personnel, but in spite of everything Viktor always went into battle. According to his brothers, not a single mission was complete without a courageous fighter. Took part in the battles for Malynyvka, Gulyaipole, Zatyshne, Chervone, Siversk, defended the airfield near Poltava. He was the commander of the branch of the airborne assault platoon. On April 11, 2022, he was awarded the medal "For military service to Ukraine". He also has the "Volunteer" medal for the period of hostilities in 2016-17.

Viktor Ponomarenko died on July 13, 2022 while performing a combat mission in the Donetsk region. At the request for help, "Whirlwind" advanced from his position, leaving his boys in place, because he was always worried about each fellow. While repulsing an enemy assault near the city of Siversk, an enemy tank was hit not far from it. Unfortunately, the shrapnel wound was fatal. Saying goodbye to Voyn took place in the city of Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi (Cherkasy region), where his family currently lives.