Oleksandr "Raul" Melnikov is a fan of the "Dnipro" football club.

Oleksandr Yuriyovich Melnikov was born on May 20, 1980 in the city of Kamianske (formerly Dniprodzerzhinsk). He studied at the local gymnasium No. 39, and after the 9th grade he entered the technical school of electrification of the Dnipropetrovsk State Agrarian University, majoring in electrification and automation of agriculture, specializing in "Electrical heating and cooling installations". Learning was easy, i.e. from an early age he had a very sharp memory, and he devoted all his free time to his main childhood hobby - football. He was one of the best football players among his peers, but in the difficult 90s, the family did not have the opportunity to fully develop his son's talent.

It was on football fields between residential buildings that Sashko received his call sign, which he will carry throughout his life. Being a thin and black guy, he looked a lot like the Spanish player Raul Garcia. The children quickly noticed it, and so it took hold. In 1996, he moved to the village of Karnaukhivka (Dnipropetrovsk region). In 1999, he was called up for military service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the city of Kryvyi Rih in the tank troops, where he received the rank of sergeant. After returning from the service, he went to work at the Dnipropetrovsk Coke Chemical Plant.

He started supporting "Dnipro" in the fan sector since his youth. He attended home and away matches, and also did not forget to play himself. He trained 2-3 times a week, was the captain of his own team. Thanks to his perseverance, this team repeatedly won prizes at competitions in the village. Karnaukhivka and at tournaments in Kamiansk. Relatives and friends remember Oleksandr as a cheerful, hardworking and very open person. He was always sociable and had many friends. In addition to his love for sports and travel, he was fond of fishing.

In 2005, he got married and dreamed of a big family - a daughter and a son, who would fulfill his father's dream by becoming a famous football player. One dream came true in 2007 with the birth of daughter Sofia. Oleksandr wanted to see her as a comprehensively developed personality, took her to dances and vocals. At the end of 2012, he decided to switch to working for a private enterprise. Aiming to rise to the position of chief engineer, in 2013 he entered the Interregional Academy of Personnel Management and completed the first course.

Being a true patriot and hearing about the start of mobilization in February 2014, "Raul" appeared at the Military Committee. On March 25, he was sent for retraining to the village of Guards as part of the 25th separate airborne Dnipropetrovsk brigade. ATO began at the end of April. On May 2, 2014, from the Dnipropetrovsk airport, the battalion was transported by helicopter to the city of Kramatorsk, where it stayed for 2.5 months, until the liberation of the city. Later, Oleksandr told his relatives that those days were very difficult. Sometimes the fighters did not have water or food.

But here the fan movement repeatedly helped his brother. During a short vacation, he remembered a funny story, how his company was waiting for help, and then "Raul" saw things with the symbols of his native club in another brigade. Then it turned out that Dnipro fans dropped parcels from the helicopter for their teammate, but other fighters took them for themselves, i.e. were very hungry. Alexander was not greedy, but asked to return and divide the parcels.

A video from April 16, 2014, shot near Kramatorsk, is also available online. Residents of the Donetsk region. stopped the military, Alexander was one of them. Answering the pro-Russian journalist's provocative questions about why the military is here and what they think about the situation in the region, he answered: "Our country is being torn to pieces. How can we react to this? Today is my country, and tomorrow it may not exist. How should I react to this? Here they want to tear down the flag of my country. How should I react to this?".

On his only and last vacation, he met all his relatives and friends, as if they had all come to say goodbye. On the morning of July 18, "Raul" returned to the military unit, where new combat tasks awaited him. Oleksandr Melnikov died on August 12, 2014 during the liberation of the city of Vuglegirsk, coming under mortar fire. His last dream was to take his daughter to the 1st grade on the school line. But it was not destined... He was buried next to his father at the Sotsmista cemetery in Kamiansk. On November 14, 2014, he was awarded the Order "For Courage" III degree (posthumously).