Vitaliy Deynega
Vitaliy Deynega | |
|---|---|
| Віталій Олегович Дейнега | |
| Born | October 25, 1983 Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union |
| Nationality |  Ukraine |
| Other names | Vitaliy Deyneha |
| Alma mater | Kyiv Polytechnic Institute |
| Occupation(s) | Volunteer, public activist, public official |
| Known for |
|
| Awards | |
Vitaliy Olegovych Deynega (Ukrainian: Віталій Олегович Дейнега; also spelled Deyneha; born 25 October 1983) is a Ukrainian volunteer and public activist.[1] He founded the Come Back Alive Foundation in 2014 and served as its director until 2020.[2] From 21 February to 18 September 2023, he held the post of Deputy Minister of Defence of Ukraine responsible for digital transformation.[3][4][5]
Early life and education
Deynega was born on 25 October 1983 in Kyiv, then part of the Ukrainian SSR. Between 2001 and 2007, he studied at the National Technical University of Ukraine Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, Faculty of Applied Mathematics.
Burning Man and Come Back Alive
Deynega contributed to several art installations at the annual Burning Man festival in Nevada.
Ukrainian Phoenix was Ukraine’s first-ever Burning Man ritual burn installation, an eight-metre-tall brutalist rendition of the Ukrainian tryzub whose wooden casing was ceremonially set alight at the festival’s finale in 2023.[6]
In 2024, Deynega co-created and produced the sculpture I’m Fine, a 32 m-long by 7 m-high installation assembled from war-damaged street signs, solar panels, satellite dishes, and other artifacts, spelling out the ironic message “I’m Fine” to convey both the destruction of war and the resilience of the Ukrainian people.[7]
In an interview, Deynega recalled that after reading about the escalating violence in eastern Ukraine while chain-smoking in his Kyiv kitchen, he drew inspiration from the collaborative ethos of Burning Man to launch in 2014 the Come Back Alive Foundation, a civilian initiative that has since spent millions of dollars on equipment and training for Ukrainian troops.[8] It has since become one of Ukraine’s largest military charities aimed at equipping Ukrainian Armed Forces.[9] Deyngha led Come Back Alive from 2014 to 2020.[10]
Career
Between 2016 and 2017, he served as an adviser to Transparency International Ukraine. From 2017 to 2020, he was the host of the television project "Chronicles of the Unannounced War" on 24 Kanal.
On 28 April 2020, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, he helped raise funds from Ukrainian diplomats to support the military in combating the COVID-19 pandemic.[5]
In 2022, Deynega launched the Ukrainian Witness project, dedicated to filming and documenting Russian war crimes during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.[11][12]
Government service
On 21 February 2023, Deynega was appointed Deputy Minister of Defence of Ukraine for digital transformation under Minister Oleksii Reznikov.[3][4] He was dismissed from the position on 18 September 2023 during a Cabinet of Ministers reshuffle.[13]
Awards
- Order of Merit, Second Class (23 August 2022).[14]
- Order of Merit, Third Class (23 August 2014).[15]
- Cross of Ivan Mazepa (5 December 2019).[16]
- Medal "For Supporting the Armed Forces of Ukraine" (13 May 2016), presented by Minister of Defence Stepan Poltorak.[17]
References
- ^ "Vitaliy Deyneha". Ukrainian Institute for National Remembrance. Retrieved 2025-08-15.
- ^ "Ukraine is turning to online crypto crowdfunding to fund its fight against Russia". MIT Technology Review. 2022-02-25. Retrieved 2025-08-16.
- ^ a b "Уряд призначив Дейнегу і Шевченка заступниками міністра оборони. 21.02.2022, 16:28" (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 14 Oct 2024. Retrieved 22 February 2023.
- ^ a b "Кабмін призначив ще двох заступників Резнікова". РБК-Украина (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2023-02-28.
- ^ a b "Онлайн-брифінг міністра закордонних справ Дмитра Кулеби та керівника благодійного фонду "Повернись живим" Віталія Дейнеги" (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 2020-08-11.
- ^ Shevchenko, Olena (2024-08-26). "Ukraine had an installation at Burning Man 2023. Why it matters". The Village. Retrieved 2025-08-16.
- ^ "Ukrainian artists install huge "I'm Fine" sculpture at Burning Man". Artsy. 2024-08-26. Retrieved 2025-08-16.
- ^ Stepanenko, Pavel; Parafeniuk, Oksana (January 31, 2019). "The Art of Crowdfunding War". Pulitzer Center. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
- ^ "Ексміністерка Коляда очолила благодійний фонд "Повернись живим" (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 6 June 2020. Retrieved 2020-08-11.
- ^ "Віталій Дейнега" (in Ukrainian). Mind.ua. Retrieved 2025-08-16.
- ^ "Ukrainian Witness – a new media project to capture and memorize the terrible events in Ukraine". Ukrainian Witness (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 16 August 2025.
- ^ "'Ukrainian Witness' – a new media project to document and memorialize the terrible events in Ukraine". Kinowar. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
- ^ "Маляр у списку: Кабмін звільнив майже всіх заступників міністра оборони України" (in Ukrainian). 24 Kanal. 18 September 2023. Archived from the original on 12 November 2023. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
- ^ "Decree of the President of Ukraine No. 593/2022 "On awarding state decorations of Ukraine on the occasion of Independence Day of Ukraine"" (in Ukrainian). President of Ukraine. 23 August 2022. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
- ^ "Decree of the President of Ukraine No. 676/2014 "On awarding state decorations of Ukraine on the occasion of Independence Day of Ukraine"" (in Ukrainian). President of Ukraine. 23 August 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
- ^ "Decree of the President of Ukraine No. 889/2019 "On awarding state decorations of Ukraine on the occasion of International Volunteer Day"" (in Ukrainian). President of Ukraine. 5 December 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2025.
- ^ "Генерал армії України Степан Полторак нагородив волонтерів медаллю «За сприяння Збройним Силам України»". Archived from the original on 3 January 2020. Retrieved 2020-08-11.