Viktor Lukyanchenko Member of the underground organization 'Young Guard'. Date of Birth: 22.04.1927 Country: Ukraine

Biography of Viktor Lukianchenko

Viktor Lukianchenko was born on April 22, 1927, in the city of Krasnodon. After spending his early childhood in Poltava, his family returned to Krasnodon in 1935. Viktor attended School No. 4 named after K.E. Voroshilov, where he excelled academically and actively participated in various artistic activities such as photography, choir singing, and reciting poems.

At the age of 14, when the Great Patriotic War began, Viktor continued his studies while also assisting adults in building defensive structures with his comrades. During the occupation, Viktor became an active member of the underground Komsomol organization called "Molodaya Gvardiya" (Young Guard). He frequently gathered with his friends Victor Tretyakevich, Sergey Tyulenin, Leonid Dadyshev, Stepan Safonov, and Volodya Kulikov. As part of Sergey Tyulenin's group, he carried out tasks assigned by the headquarters and wrote and distributed leaflets.

One of the important operations of the underground organization, in which Viktor Lukianchenko participated, was the arson of the labor exchange, as described by the commander of "Molodaya Gvardiya," Ivan Turkenich: "The night of the arson was exceptionally dark and windy. Sergey Tyulenin, Lyubov Shevtsova, and Viktor Lukianchenko hid in dense bushes next to the western side of the building. They waited for darkness, silently approached the building, carefully broke a window, and entered... A few sticks of artillery powder and a bottle of gasoline captured by Lyuba proved sufficient to set fire to the curtain, the fabric-covered sofa, and the table piled with papers. Meanwhile, Viktor set fire to the walls of the office, covered with fabric." On that night, December 5, 1942, the documents of the young Krasnodon residents, prepared for hijacking to Germany, were destroyed in the fire.

In December 1942, as per the instructions of the party leadership, the center of "Molodaya Gvardiya's" activities became the A.M. Gorky Club. Viktor Lukianchenko enrolled in the string ensemble together with Antonina Mashchenko, Valeria Borts, Georgy Arutyunyants, and other underground members. The clandestine Komsomol organization accepted the young Young Guard member into the ranks of the All-Union Leninist Communist Youth League (VLKSM), which further obligated him to fight against the hated enemy with even greater determination. And he fought, seeking revenge for the "burned and devastated cities and villages, for the blood of our people..."

On January 12, 1943, Viktor was arrested on the street. However, the police had no evidence to prove his affiliation with the "Molodaya Gvardiya." After a few days, badly beaten, Viktor was released from prison. Anastasia Prokofyevna, his mother, recalls: "I suggested several times that my son leave the city and wait out these terrible times, but he always replied, 'Mom, do people run away from the front?'" On the night of January 27, two policemen burst into Lukianchenko's apartment and arrested Viktor once again. On January 31, after brutal torture, he was shot and thrown into the shaft of Mine No. 5. He was buried in a mass grave of heroes in the central square of Krasnodon.

Viktor Dmitrievich Lukianchenko was posthumously awarded the Order of the Patriotic War 1st Class and the Par