Serhii Balanchuk, a former football player of «Dynamo» Kyiv and the Ukrainian youth national team, was killed in the war against Russian occupiers.
He began his football career in «Dynamo» Kyiv. Subsequently, he joined the Israeli club «Maccabi» Haifa, for which he played for three seasons, including in European competitions, and won the 1997/98 Israeli Cup and the 1998/99 national championship bronze medal. In 1999, Serhii returned to the «Dynamo» again and won the First League championship with «Dynamo-2».
Then Balanchuk moved to «Vorskla» Poltava, where he played for more than three seasons. At the end of his career, in 2003, he played for «Metalist» Kharkiv. After retiring, Serhii went into the legal field.
After the full-scale Russian invasion, the athlete joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The ex-footballer died near Bakhmut, defending Donetsk region, as a result of artillery fire at the age of 48.