Senior sailor Volodymyr Davydenko, nicknamed “Walter,” died on May 4, 2022, in Mariupol at the Azovstal Metallurgical Plant depot. The defender was 31 years old.
Volodymyr Davydenko was born in the city of Krasnohorivka. He studied marketing at the Tugan-Baranovsky Donetsk National University of Economics and Trade. He worked as a private entrepreneur.
"Vovchik — that's how I have him saved in my phone — was the only child in our family. My son grew up as a normal boy. He was passionate about music. He loved animals very much: we had sheepdogs in our yard and a mongrel named Tosha in our house. At one time, he was a bit into boxing, but after a year, my son decided to quit training, even though he had great prospects in this sport,” said his father, Igor.
In 2014, after the war began, Volodymyr moved to the city of Kropyvnytskyi. There he met a girl named Veronika, whom he married. He worked in a bar.
Having a “white ticket,” Volodymyr went to the military registration and enlistment office in October 2016 and signed his first three-year contract with military unit A0666.
“Military service is my thing. I understand where I'm going,” he told his family.
The 28th Separate Mechanized Brigade, in which Walter served, carried out combat missions in the Donetsk direction, namely holding Krasnohorivka, Maryinka, and Novomykhailivka.
On November 1, 2021, Volodymyr signed a contract with the 36th Separate Marine Brigade named after Rear Admiral Mykhailo Bilinsky. He was a gunner in the assault unit.
At the end of 2021, the marine brigade from Mykolaiv was sent to Mariupol, where the soldiers, including Volodymyr Davydenko, encountered a full-scale invasion.
When Volodymyr and his comrades managed to break through to Azovstal, he was awarded the Order of Courage, III degree. The soldier was posthumously awarded the medal “Honor. Glory. State.”
"Oleg Koramov, my son's commander, told in an interview how he died. He said that they held positions at the Azovstal metallurgical plant — at ‘Trub,’ ‘Uran,’ and ”Lotus.” He also said that Vova was a positive person and a reliable soldier: no matter where you put Vovchik, no matter what position or task you gave him, he always did everything, no matter what was going on around him,” his father shared.
The defender of Mariupol was buried in the Alley of Honorary Burials of the Far Eastern Cemetery in Kropyvnytskyi.
His wife, daughter, mother, and father were waiting for him at home.
At 9:00 a.m., there was a nationwide minute of silence. The Donetsk Regional State Administration and the Heroes Memorial platform commemorated the fallen defenders from Donetsk Oblast.