Andriy Polunin

Andriy Viktorovych Polunin (Ukrainian: Андрій Вікторович Полунін; 5 March 1971 – 15 November 2025) was a Ukrainian professional footballer who played as a midfielder.^[1]

Andriy Polunin

Personal information
Full name	Andriy Viktorovych Polunin
Date of birth	(1971-03-05)5 March 1971
Place of birth	Dnipropetrovsk, Ukrainian SSR, USSR
Date of death	15 November 2025(2025-11-15) (aged 54)
Place of death	Lutsk, Ukraine
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position	Midfielder
Youth career
1981–1988	Dnipropetrovsk OShISP (UOR)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1989	Shakhtar Pavlohrad	1	(0)
1990–1996	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	152	(23)
1997	CSKA Kyiv	14	(0)
1997	Karpaty Lviv	14	(1)
1998	Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih	9	(2)
1998–1999	1. FC Nürnberg	16	(2)
1999–2000	FC St. Pauli	29	(4)
2000–2002	Rot-Weiss Essen	28	(1)
2002–2003	Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk	6	(0)
2002–2003	→ Dnipro-2 Dnipropetrovsk	3	(0)
2003–2004	Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih	1	(0)
International career
1992–1995	Ukraine	9	(1)
Managerial career
2007	Kryvbas Kryvyi Rih (scout)
2007–2008	Naftovyk-Ukrnafta (sports director)
2008	Naftovyk-Ukrnafta (president)
2008–2012	Naftovyk-Ukrnafta (sports director)
2012	Arsenal Kyiv (director)
2013–2018	Naftovyk-Ukrnafta (sports director)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals

Career

Polunin made his professional debut in the Soviet Second League in 1989 for Shakhtar Pavlohrad.^[2]

He spent the majority of his playing career at Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk. He won nine caps for Ukraine, scoring one goal, in a 3–1 defeat to Italy in a Euro 96 qualifier in Bari in November 1995.

From 2007, Polunin worked as a sports director with Naftovyk-Ukrnafta.

Death

Polunin died on 15 November 2025, at the age of 54, having suffered a heart attack after playing in a veterans' match in Lutsk.^[3]