Ukrainian Trophy-Raid Championship common Mykhailo Svirgun was kiled in motion whereas serving with the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Earlier than the Russian invasion started in 2022, Svirgun competed within the sequence as a co-driver throughout the late 2010s. A Kharkiv native, he was a part of the native Bilka off-road workforce and thus labored alongside drivers like fellow residents Serhiy Tarasov.
Tarasov and Svirgun primarily raced a Toyota Land Cruiser or a UAZ-469 within the TR2 class. Previous to the sequence’ pause by COVID-19 in 2020, the duo loved podiums at rounds just like the 2019 Polissya Trophy, the second race of the season held in Kyiv.
With Bilka, he was a preferred face within the off-roading and Jeep group.
“Mykhailo Mykhailovych Svirgun, the navigator of the ‘star’ Kharkiv crew ‘Belka’, died defending Ukraine from the Russian-fascist invaders,” reads a press release from the Vehicle Federation of Ukraine. “A spouse and two youngsters have been left with out a husband and father…
“The Vehicle Federation of Ukraine expresses its deepest condolences to the household and pals of Mykhailo Mykhailovych.”
Now 791 days in, the invasion has pressed many members of the Ukrainian motorsport group and the FAU into service. 2014 Trophy-Raid TR1 Champion Andriy Gusev died whereas preventing in Kharkiv in June 2023 whereas TR1 competitor Volodymyr Giba was killed in November that yr. Different racers memorialised by the FAU for his or her sacrifices in fight embody kart racers Volodymyr Chernysh, Kyrylo Demidov, and Mykhailo Kravchenko.
