Valerii Ivanovych Krasnian «Bars»

• Unit: 107th Separate Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
• State honors: Order of Danylo Halytskyi (December 1, 2018); Order «People's Hero of Ukraine»; Medal «For the Glory of Chernivtsi» (2023);

Biography

Valerii Krasnian was born on February 20, 1971, in the urban-type settlement of Hlyboka, now part of the Hlyboka community of Chernivtsi district, Chernivtsi region, Ukraine. In one interview, Valerii stated: «I myself was born in Bilorechenske, near Luhansk. In 1974, we moved to Bukovyna». He studied at Hlyboka Secondary School. In 1996, he joined the Stepan Bandera «Tryzub» civic organization, where he became friends with Dmytro Yarosh.

In the autumn of 2014, he volunteered for the «Aidar» Battalion. He took part in the battles for Shchastia, Vesela Hora, Metalist, and Savur-Mohyla. He evacuated the wounded from near Ilovaisk. Later, he transferred to the Ukrainian Volunteer Corps, where Bars was appointed commander of the 2nd Assault Company of the 5th Battalion. The company fought in the hottest spots - Pisky, Donetsk Airport, and the «Butivka» mine.

In 2015, he became head of the Center for Assistance to ATO Participants. He was a representative of the President on issues concerning ATO participants and an adviser to the head of the Chernivtsi Regional State Administration. He held the position of chief specialist in a department of the regional state administration's office

In 2020, he and his family went abroad.

With the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, he returned from abroad and, from February 2022, joined the ranks of the Ukrainian Volunteer Army, where he headed «Bars's Company» in his native 5th Battalion, and in the summer of 2022 - the 107th Separate Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He took part in the battles for Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Kharkiv region.

He was killed on November 23, 2022, while carrying out a combat mission in Kharkiv region, after detonating a mine. He was buried on November 27, 2022, on the Alley of Glory in Chernivtsi.