Illia Samoilenko (Ukrainian: Ілля Сергійович Самойленко; born 10 July 1994[1]) is a Ukrainian serviceman, an intelligence officer of the Azov Regiment[2][3][4] of the National Guard of Ukraine,[5][6] and a participant in the Russian-Ukrainian war.
Samoilenko studied at the Faculty of History of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv. He dreams of completing his studies after the war. His callsign is Gandalf.[7][8]
In 2015, he began military service in the ATO/OOS zone as part of the Azov Regiment when he was 21 years old. He lost his left arm and right eye during the fighting (he now has a titanium mechanical prosthesis and an artificial eye).[9]
Since the beginning of the blockade of Mariupol, he and his colleagues were in the Azovstal iron and steel works. From the basement of the plant, Samoilenko gave several news updates.[10] On May 8, 2022, he held a press conference for representatives of foreign media in English.[11][12]
He was captured on May 20, 2022.[13] In an interview to the BBC he said that he was held in solitary confinement in Russia for 120 days.[14]
On September 21, 2022, he was released from captivity.[15][16]
