APRIL 29, 1966 – FEBRUARY 26, 2022
56 YEARS, ACTIVIST, PHOTOGRAPHER
Ihor Hudenko died with camera in hand whilst filming the crimes of the Russian army in Kharkiv. On February 24, when the aggressor invaded Ukraine, Ihor took a bicycle and rushed to the ring road, North Saltivka. The fighting was going on there. On the first day of war, he posted an image — with a video shortly after — of the mangled enemy military equipment. That was his last publication.
Ihor went incommunicado on February 26. For three months, the journalist was assumed missing. His family, friends and the law enforcement were looking for him in hopes that Ihor was alive. It was revealed in May that Ihor’s body was found by the activists in one of the shelled houses on Natalia Uzhviy street on February 27. Since the beginning of invasion, that area was under heavy shelling from «GRAD» and «Uragan» multiple launch rocket systems. The journalist was buried by the funeral service on April 7.
Ihor was a photographer, a member of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine, a video blogger, an activist. He was concerned about the ecology in his native Kharkiv. He even added «Green» to his name on social networks.
Among the most valuable footage in his portfolio were the images from February 20, 2014, when on Instytutska street in Kyiv, the protestors were shot at. He was in the front lines; he filmed the birth of the Heavenly Hundred from just several meters away. This very footage was invaluable evidence in the court proceedings later. Ihor was a co-author and director of a documentary «Yevhen Kotliar, Hero of Ukraine». He was also the one behind the images of a policeman in Kharkiv handing a knife to a thug, who had accidentally dropped it out of his pocket.
The friends of Ihor say that he was patriotic beyond comprehension. He attended all the rallies. The journalist had plenty of know-hows in his professional toolkit. Thanks to his ingenious approach to improving the work instruments, any process would go way faster. Ihor’s friends say that he was always where it was necessary to be, in the midst of it. Many of his photos and video materials are now considered to be historical heritage of Ukraine. He was 56.
