Viktor Gurniak

Viktor Gurniak (nickname: “Gart”, “Gartik”, nickname in "Aidar" volunteer battalion: “Oligarch”; born June 8, 1987, village of Horodnytsia, Ternopil region; died October 19, 2014, near village of Smile, Luhansk region, protecting Ukraine in the Russian-Ukrainian War), a Ukrainian photographer, a co-founder of the photo agency "LUFA". Worked as photographer for UNIAN, Reuters, LUFA, online publication INSIDER.

Biography

In Ukrainian scout uniform during a camp "Legion" in Volyn' region, August 17, 2008

Education

Viktor attended public school #27 in Ternopil, then the Technical College of the Ternopil Ivan Pul'uj National Technical University.

Viktor Gurniak with his daughter Yustyna at the opening of photo exhibit "EURO-2012 through the prism of LUFA" in the city of L'viv, August 2, 2012

Work

He worked for the Ternopil newspaper "20 minutes", edited a Plast periodical "The Blossom of Ukraine" ("Цвіт України"). Headed a Youth Civic Organization "Foundation for Regional Initiatives" and worked as a press secretary for the Ternopil chapter of the political party "PORA".

Family

Lived in the city of L'viv with his wife Iryna and his daughter Yustyna.

Viktor Gurniak leading as MC at an artistic contest "Orlykiada-2007"

Scouting

Viktor joined Plast at the age of 14. He belonged to a group "Grey Wolves", which was part of the troop #29 named after Yuriy Starosolskyi. In 2004, he became one of the co-founders and the first troop leader of the troop #77 named after Ivan Havdyda. Later, he joined the "Order of the Iron Spur" Plast fraternity named after Sviatoslav the Conqueror.

Led a scout group "Eagles". Served as Deputy Head for Educational Programs in local (municipal level) and district (regional level) Plast chapters. Directed the communications division of the Ternopil chapter. Organized numerous events and activities, and served as the commander-in-charge of the national (all-Ukrainian) camp "Legion-11".

Anti-Terrorist Operation

In the last several months of his life, Viktor served first as a supply volunteer and later as a volunteer fighter in the "Aidar" battalion on the front lines of the Russian-Ukrainian War 2014. At first, Viktor helped collect funds, purchase and transport the necessary supplies and equipment to the fighters of "Aidar" and other battalions operating in the war zone of Anti-Terrorist Operation. In the summer of 2014, he decided to join the ranks of “Aidar”.^[1]

Viktor died at 10:10 a.m. on October 19, 2014 as a result of a wound sustained from a mortar shell. He came under fire while transporting the wounded troops to safety in the vicinity of checkpoint #32, near the village of Smile, Luhansk region.

Near the city of Luhansk, August 18, 2014
Greeting a Ukrainian soldier at the checkpoint "Jolly Mountain" near Luhansk, August 18, 2014
Near Luhansk, Aug 18, 2014
At the checkpoint "Jolly Mountain" near Luhansk, Aug 18, 2014

Farewell

On October 21, Viktor's native city of Ternopil gave him a hero's farewell: hundreds of Ternopilians greeted the funeral caravan at the city limits, to escort Viktor to the building where he had lived for many years and pay their last respects. In the evening, a memorial service was held at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception of BVM.

The funeral caravan is greeted by people at the Ternopil city limits
Mourning family
Scout friends
Memorial service
Procession from the Cathedral
"Glory!" and flowers, as the last rites form Ternopilians

Media related to Farewell to Viktor Gurniak in Ternopil at Wikimedia Commons

On October 22, 2014, a memorial service was held at the Sts. Peter and Paul Church in the city of Lviv, after which Viktor was buried at the Lychakiv Cemetery, next to the Plast monument at the site of the Memorial to the Ukrainian Galician Army. Several thousand people came to Viktor's funeral.

Memory

The Plast leadership recognized his heroic deed by posthumously awarding Viktor the highest honor - Iron Cross "For meritorious deeds in the national liberation struggle for the Ukrainian state».

Viktor was also posthumously awarded the Order For Courage 3rd grade.^[2]

Ukrainian scouts from Ternopil organized sales of self-produced baked goods, arts and crafts, to raise funds for the family of their fallen friend.^[3]

On November 30, a human rights initiative "Euromaidan SOS" announced the results of its "Volunteer prize", recognizing the work of activists in 10 nomination categories. Viktor Gurniak became a laureate in the category "Person of Light".^[4]

Creative Endeavors

Photography

Viktor became interested in photography as a child, when his father gave him a present of his first camera - FED-5 (ФЕД-5). Professionally, Viktor became a photographer in 2005, when his snapshots started appearing in various Ternopil newspapers. In 2007, while hiking in the Crimean mountains, he accidentally witnessed a big fire. His photos of that fire became TOP photos of the week, and for the first time were published in some of the most highly rated publications in Ukraine, including UNIAN. Since that time he started freelancing for this news agency, and since the flu epidemic in the fall of 2009 - for Reuters.

In 2013, Viktor and his photographer friends co-founded their own agency - LUFA. Also, since December 2013, Viktor also worked with the internet publication «Insider». In addition, he reported from the winter Euromaidan protests, and produced a series of photographs about the life of "Aidar" battalion fighters.

Film

External video
"Don't tell anyone"
"Golden September. A Chronicle of Galicia, 1939-1941"
"My Knightly Cross"

Viktor also participated in several productions of music videos and films as an actor.

Music video of Tartak and Nichlava "Don't tell anyone" (2007), where he plays the role of a "partisan fighter in an embroidered shirt" that is killed in the battle of 1943 near Zahoriv protecting his homeland from the occupying forces. Many of his friends and journalists draw an analogy between this role and the last several months of Viktor's real life, when he (now in real life) had to protect his homeland from the occupying forces in the East of Ukraine.

Documentary of Taras Khymych "Golden September. A Chronicle of Galicia 1939-1941" (2007), where he played an episodic role of a partisan fighter.

Music video for "Tartak" frontman Sashko Polozhynskyi's song "My Knightly Cross" (written at the Plast camp "Legion" in 2008). Viktor directed the production (camera operator - Ivan Dovhanyk).

In Wikipedia

Registered in Wikipedia as Gartik, though was not an active contributor.

References

Посилання

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Viktor Hurniak.

Viktor Gurniak's page on Facebook

Ukrainian Media about Viktor's death:

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Friday, March 11, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.