Red Bull Street Style in Ukraine
12/02/2026
History of national qualifiers
Red Bull Street Style is a prestigious international freestyle football competition. Here, participants demonstrate incredible ball control, creativity, and artistry. Over the years, Ukraine has actively joined this global movement, inviting talented freestylers and organizing exciting national qualifiers.
2008: First steps
Red Bull Street Style began its journey in 2008. National qualifiers were held in nearly 50 countries, “Around The World”. In Ukraine, qualifying competitions were not held due to the small number of freestylers and the insufficient overall level. However, our country still joined the qualifying competitions.
At Red Bull’s invitation, UkrFreestyle members Oleksiy “Zhura” Zhurakovskyi and Andrii “DAG” Dunaevskyi attended the first Russian qualifiers. The event took place in Moscow on May 25, 2008. Zhura competed but could not reach the national final, even with a win. Meanwhile, DAG served as a judge.
Zhura took a respectable third place, losing only to the eventual winner in the semifinals. However, most of the freestyle community felt he won that battle and deserved the championship title.
2009: First tournament
The first official Red Bull Street Style qualifying tournament took place in Ukraine on August 28-29, 2009. Sixteen freestylers were to participate in the national final. Organizers pre-selected twelve participants via wild cards. The remaining four finalists earned their spots through preliminary qualifying battles.
Wild card holders:
🇺🇦 Oleksiy “Zhura” Zhurakovskyi (Kyiv)
🇺🇦 Igor “2zif” Zhurakovskyi (Kyiv)
🇺🇦 Volodymyr Puts (Sevastopol)
🇺🇦 Viktor “Troll” Tronin (Sevastopol)
🇺🇦 Mykola “JD” Chvalun (Cherkasy)
🇺🇦 Maksym “Urban” Dudka (Dniprodzerzhynsk)
🇺🇦 Stas “Amico” Sotnikov (Donetsk)
🇺🇦 Igor Samoded (Kyiv)
🇺🇦 Ivan “IMel” Meleshko (Lutsk)
🇺🇦 Serhiy “Remych” Myronyuk (Rozyche)
🇺🇦 Andrii “DAG” Dunaevskyi (Kyiv)
🇺🇦 Bohdan Semenets (Sumy)
On August 28, the first Ukrainian qualifiers took place at the Kyiv Suvorov Military School. Today, this institution is known as the Ivan Bohun Kyiv Military Lyceum. Anyone who considered themselves skilled with a ball was invited to participate. Based on the results of the qualifying stage, the following players earned the right to participate in the national finals:
🇺🇦 Andriy “AndruhA” Usanin (Kherson)
🇺🇦 Kostyantyn “KoS” Babchuk (Kherson)
🇺🇦 Serhiy Migun (Odesa)
🇺🇦 Mykhailo “AnGrY LoLLiPoP” Kulbaba (Vyshhorod).
🇺🇦 Kostya “KostyaFF” Semerey (Kovel) is the youngest (12 years old) participant in the qualification. He received a wild card after the qualifiers, replacing Bogdan Semenets. Semenets was absent for unknown reasons.
The first Ukrainian Red Bull Street Style national final took place on August 29, 2009. The event was held at Kyiv’s Independence Square. The event attracted about 1,500 spectators. The main prize was a trip to Cape Town (South Africa) for the 2010 World Final.
Judges of the national final:
🇫🇷 Sean Garnier — Red Bull Street Style 2008 World champion.
🇺🇦 Artem Kichak — goalkeeper of Dynamo Kyiv.
🇺🇦 B-boy Kolobok — Ukrainian breakdancing champion.
The national final presented viewers with a spectacular show and a fierce battle for a ticket to the World Final. Despite their lack of experience in such competitions, Ukrainian freestylers demonstrated a high level of technical skill and creativity. The atmosphere on Independence Square was incredible, with each round accompanied by a stormy reaction from the audience. After a series of tense battles, the winner of the Ukrainian qualification was determined.
🥇 1st place – 🇺🇦 Oleksiy “Zhura” Zhurakovskyi (Kyiv) 🏆
🥈 2nd place – 🇺🇦 Mykola “JD” Chvalun (Cherkasy)
🥉 3rd place – 🇺🇦 Viktor “Troll” Tronin (Sevastopol)
2012: Large-scale campaign
After a two-and-a-half-year hiatus, Red Bull Street Style returned to Ukraine, this time on an even larger scale. The second national selection for the world final took place in the spring of 2012 under a new format. The organizers decided to cover more regions of the country to allow as many freestylers as possible to try. The competition consisted of three regional qualifying stages, which were held in Kyiv, Lviv, and Donetsk.
As in 2009, 16 freestylers were to participate in the national finals. The top 4 participants from each regional stage received tickets to the finals. Another four places went to freestylers who received wild cards from the organizers.
📍 Kyiv — March 17
1st place – 🇺🇦 Oleksiy “Zhura” Zhurakovskyi (Kyiv)
2nd place – 🇺🇦 Ihor Samoded (Kyiv)
3rd place – 🇺🇦 Oles “AlexOK” Okolita (Kyiv)
4th place – 🇺🇦 Yevhen Kosyura (Odesa)
📍 Lviv — March 18
1st place – 🇺🇦 Kostyantyn “KostyaFF” Semerey (Kovel)
2nd place – 🇺🇦 Volodymyr Hudyma (Ivano-Frankivsk)
3rd place – 🇺🇦 Ihor “2zif” Zhurakovskyi (Kyiv)
4th place – 🇺🇦 Mykhailo “MihasiaFF” Triboshchuk (Lutsk)
📍 Donetsk — March 25
1st place – 🇺🇦 Pavlo “Patch” Sotnikov (Donetsk)
2nd place – 🇺🇦 Maxim “Urban” Dudka (Dniprodzerzhynsk)
3rd place – 🇺🇦 Vlad “Fan” Nedelnyuk (Kryvyi Rih)
4th place – 🇺🇦 Sergey Yelshin (Kharkiv)
Wild card from the organizers:
🇺🇦 Ivan “IMel” Meleshko (Lutsk)
🇺🇦 Vlad Zadorozhny (Cherkasy)
🇺🇦 Andriy “Akrisha” Akritov (Kyiv)
🇺🇦 David “Davo” Tsaturyan (Kharkiv)
The national final took place on April 7 at the ATMOSFERA 360 science and entertainment center in the Kyiv Planetarium. The unique venue was packed. Hundreds of spectators gathered to watch Ukraine’s best freestylers compete for a spot in the World Finals. The atmosphere of the competition was enhanced by the star-studded judging panel:
🇳🇱 Edgar Davids – legendary Dutch footballer.
🇺🇦 Vladislav Vashchuk – famous Ukrainian defender of Dynamo Kyiv and the Ukrainian national team.
🇺🇦 Kishe – popular Ukrainian singer.
The finalists engaged in a series of intense battles, demonstrating their technical skills and creativity. And the winner of the second Red Bull Street Style national final in Ukraine was:
🥇 1st place — 🇺🇦 Maksym “Urban” Dudka (Dniprodzerzhynsk) 🏆
🥈 2nd place — 🇺🇦 Oleksiy “Zhura” Zhurakovskyi (Kyiv)
🥉 3rd-4th place — 🇺🇦 Igor Samoded (Kyiv)
🥉 3rd-4th place — 🇺🇦 Kostyantyn “Kostya” Semerey (Kovel)
2013: New format
Ukraine’s third Red Bull Street Style qualification was memorable. It featured a high level of freestyle and a new approach to selecting participants. The qualifying stage was held entirely online. Freestylers from all over the country could send in videos of their performances. They were evaluated by international judges: 🇳🇱 Daniel Rooseboom de Vries, 🇨🇿 Lucas “Lucaso” Skoda, and 🇭🇷 Miran Pirner. This format allowed more freestylers to try their hand without having to travel to regional qualifiers. A total of about 40 athletes from different parts of Ukraine took part.
The organizers announced in advance that the winners of previous years would automatically participate in the final. This right was granted to 🇺🇦 Oleksiy “Zhura” Zhurakovskyi (2009) and 🇺🇦 Maksym “Urban” Dudka (2012). The remaining 14 places were determined based on the results of online selection:
🇺🇦 Igor Samoded (Kyiv)
🇺🇦 Pavlo “Patch” Sotnikov (Donetsk)
🇺🇦 Ivan “IMel” Meleshko (Lutsk)
🇺🇦 Igor “2zif” Zhurakovskyi (Kyiv)
🇺🇦 Oles “AlexOK” Okolita (Kyiv)
🇺🇦 Denis “Di-sS” Semenko (Rovenky)
🇺🇦 Oleksandr Voyevoda (Zaporizhzhia)
🇺🇦 Vlad “Vladuha” Petrenko (Poltava)
🇺🇦 Andriy “Akrisha” Akritov (Kyiv)
🇺🇦 Anton “Toshka” Garilikh (Donetsk)
🇺🇦 Vlad “Fan” Nedelnyuk (Kryvyi Rih)
🇺🇦 Valentin “Valtes” Malanychenko (Odesa)
🇺🇦 Mykhailo “MihasiaFF” Triboshchuk (Lutsk)
🇺🇦 Volodymyr Hudyma (Ivano-Frankivsk) – did not attend the final for unknown reasons.
The national final took place on April 6, 2013, at the Lavra Art Gallery. This unique location perfectly combined the atmosphere of contemporary art with the energy of sports competitions.
This time, the judging panel was headed by:
🇳🇴 Anders “Azun” Solum – Red Bull Street Style 2010 World champion.
🇺🇦 Mykola Vasylkov – sports journalist.
🇺🇦 Slava Varda – well-known TV presenter.
The national final gave the audience an unforgettable show. The highlight of the tournament was Oleksii Zhurakovskyi’s semifinal performance. He impressed the crowd with a backflip while holding the ball. This trick became one of the competition’s most memorable moments. This spectacular performance helped him advance to the final and win his second victory in the national selection. Thus, Zhura earned the right to represent Ukraine at the world final in Tokyo, Japan.
🥇 1st place – 🇺🇦 Oleksiy “Zhura” Zhurakovskyi (Kyiv) 🏆
🥈 2nd place – 🇺🇦 Igor Samoded (Kyiv)
🥉 3rd-4th place – 🇺🇦 Pavlo “Patch” Sotnikov (Donetsk)
🥉 3rd-4th place – 🇺🇦 Maksym “Urban” Dudka (Dniprodzerzhynsk)
2014: Wild-card to the World Final
In early 2014, Red Bull canceled the Ukrainian national qualification due to budget cuts. However, the Ukrainian freestyle community was not left without representation on the world stage. Later, World Final organizers granted Ukraine a wild card for the year’s main competition. The tournament itself took place in November in the Brazilian city of Salvador.
The holder of this wild card was two-time Ukrainian qualifying champion 🇺🇦 Zhura, who won in 2009 and 2013. Thus, Ukraine’s strongest freestyler got the opportunity to represent Ukraine at the World Finals for the third time.
2016: Uncertainty
In 2016, the Red Bull Street Style national qualification in Ukraine wasn’t held for the second time in a row. Due to the political and economic situation, the organizers announced that the qualifying competitions would not take place.
The only opportunity for us to get to the world final was a wild card from Red Bull. The competition itself was to take place in November 2016 in London. Even with an invitation, funding remained a challenge. Traveling to London was extremely expensive. Incidentally, this was the reason why some other countries that held qualifying competitions were also absent from the World Finals.
Ukraine received a wild card, but participation remained uncertain until the last moment. Current Ukraine Champion 🇺🇦 Ihor Samoded was set to represent Ukraine if funding was secured. Unfortunately, the trip didn’t take place.
2018: Return after a pause
After a five-year hiatus, Red Bull Street Style returned to Ukraine in 2018. The tournament took place on May 18-19 during the Ukrainian Freestyle Football Championship. It was held on the eve of Kyiv’s historic UEFA Champions League final.
The qualifiers and round of 16 took place at adidas The BASE in the Podil area. This is a unique football space created by adidas Ukraine on the territory of the former Tetra Pak factory. The location impressed with several football fields of different formats (5×5 and 2×2). It had an area for panna football, an interactive PlayStation football area, and other football activities. Additionally, adidas The BASE hosted the Champions League final broadcast and photo sessions with the trophy.
Polish freestyler 🇵🇱 Łukasz “Luki” Chwieduk, a top European star, was the main referee. His titles include 2014 world vice-champion, two-time European champion, and two-time Polish champion. He also competed in the Red Bull Street Style World Final in Cape Town.
The final took place the next day at the Arch of Freedom of the Ukrainian People. Historically, this landmark was known as the Arch of Friendship of Nations. The eight best freestylers took part in it. The competition was held as part of the “Boundless Streets” street sports festival. The atmosphere was incredible — a huge crowd gathered and cheered on the participants with thunderous applause.
Finalists:
🇺🇦 Anatoliy Yarmistyi (Chernivtsi)
🇺🇦 Oleksandr Voyevoda (Zaporizhzhia)
🇺🇦 Vlad “ATTE” Zhygaylo (Dnipro)
🇺🇦 Denis “DeRo” Romanenko (Dnipro)
🇺🇦 Roman Shershen (Volodymyrets)
🇺🇦 Vlad “Fan” Nedelnyuk (Kryvyi Rih)
🇺🇦 Vadym “Vado$” Kyrylenko (Odesa)
🇺🇦 Ivan “IMel” Meleshko (Lutsk)
The final battle featured a curious moment. Mid-competition, the music suddenly stopped. The participants continued their performance to the audience’s applause, adding a special drama to the event. Video of the final
Final results:
🥇 1st place — 🇺🇦 Anatoliy Yarmistyi (Chernivtsi) 🏆
🥈 2nd place — 🇺🇦 Ivan “IMel” Meleshko (Lutsk)
🥉 3rd place — 🇺🇦 Vadym “Vado$” Kyrylenko (Odesa)
2019. The final chord
The latest Red Bull Street Style national qualifier took place on September 7, 2019. For the second year, Kyiv’s adidas The BASE hosted the country’s best freestylers. The event featured 30 athletes from 12 Ukrainian cities. They competed for the grand prize: a trip to represent Ukraine at the World Final in Miami, USA.
Experienced Ukrainian freestylers and former national contestants judged the event:
🇺🇦 David “DAVO” Tsaturyan (Kharkiv)
🇺🇦 Kostyantyn “KostyaFF” Semerey (Kovel)
🇺🇦 Anatoliy Yarmistyi (Chernivtsi) — winner of 2018 and participant of the World Final in Warsaw.
The national finals presented the audience with a real freestyle celebration. The level of competition was extremely high – each battle was accompanied by complex combinations, original tricks, and incredible energy. The participants not only demonstrated technical mastery of ball possession, but also revealed their creativity and charisma. The atmosphere at adidas The BASE was electrifying. Strong audience support and intense battles made every round unforgettable.
Results:
🥇 1st place — 🇺🇦 Oleksiy “Zhura” Zhurakovskyi (Kyiv) 🏆
🥈 2nd place — 🇺🇦 Vlad “ATTE” Zhygaylo (Dnipro)
🥉 3rd place — 🇺🇦 Vlad Tsymbaliuk (Sokal)
Zhura won his third Red Bull Street Style national title (2009, 2013, 2019). This victory cemented his status as the most decorated Ukrainian freestyler in the tournament’s history.
2019 was the last year Red Bull Street Style was held in Ukraine in its traditional format. The competition’s future development and the growth of Ukraine’s freestyle scene would face serious challenges ahead.
2020: The World Goes Online
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic made mass sporting events impossible worldwide. Red Bull Street Style organizers decided to hold the world championship online – a first in the competition’s history. Any freestyler around the globe could participate. However, reaching the final Top 16 required making it through four preliminary qualifying rounds.
Seven Ukrainian freestylers competed in the global online qualifiers:
🇺🇦 Igor Samoded (Kyiv)
🇺🇦 Vlad “Fan” Fanatov (Kryvyi Rih)
🇺🇦 Vlad “ATTE” Zhyhailo (Dnipro)
🇺🇦 Oleksandr Voyevoda (Zaporizhzhia)
🇺🇦 Roman Shershen (Volodymyrets)
🇺🇦 Illia Husak (Dnipro)
🇺🇦 Ivan Shakhvorost (???)
Only two made it past the first round – 🇺🇦 Igor Samoded and 🇺🇦 Vlad “ATTE” Zhyhailo. However, their run ended in the second round. Igor withdrew due to injury, while Vlad missed the video submission deadline.
Worth noting separately: 🇺🇦 Ivan “IMel” Meleshko (Lutsk) was invited by the organizers to join the nine-member judging panel for the second qualifying round. It’s recognition of Ukrainian authority and expertise within the global freestyle community.
2021: So Close to the World Final
Organizers realized the online format hadn’t gained widespread support from the freestyle community. Virtual competitions couldn’t capture the true atmosphere of battles, the crowd’s energy, or the competitive spirit that had always been at the heart of the tournament.
A return to the traditional face-to-face World Final format was announced. However, ongoing COVID-19 restrictions limited participation to 24 freestylers (16 male, 8 female). National qualifying competitions, except in a few countries, were required to continue in an online format.
Ukraine officially joined the competition. Early in the year, there was even consideration of holding a traditional tournament with limited spectators. However, two obstacles ended that plan: the Prime Minister’s announcement of a potential new lockdown, and financial disputes with venue landlords that blocked Red Bull from securing a location. The decision was made to hold a national online qualifier instead, with all stages scheduled between May 1 and May 25.
At each stage, participants had to upload three 30-second videos to the official mobile app of the World Freestyle Football Association (WFFA). The format matched traditional battles – same duration and number of rounds. These clips were then combined to form complete battles for judges to evaluate.
The judges for the Ukrainian qualifiers were:
🇵🇱 Mateusz “Lotar” Odrzygozdz
🇲🇽 Guillermo “M3mo” Vaz
🇨🇱 Juanro Aguilo
Participants in the Ukrainian qualifiers:
🇺🇦 Vlad “Vladuha” Petrenko (Poltava)
🇺🇦 Vadim Skolob (Dnipro)
🇺🇦 Daniel “Danya” Aduviri (Zaporizhia)
🇺🇦 Artem “ArtiX” Gryshayenko (Zaporizhzhia)
🇺🇦 Oleksandr Voevoda (Zaporizhzhia)
🇺🇦 Ivan Volyansky (Zaporizhzhia)
🇺🇦 Igor Garbuz (Kyiv)
🇺🇦 Roman Shershen (Volodymyrets)
🇺🇦 Denis “Di-sS” Semenko (Rovenky)
🇺🇦 Denis “DeRo” Romanenko (Dnipro)
🇺🇦 Ilya Gusak (Dnipro)
🇺🇦 Stas “Alive” Turevsky (Dnipro)
🇺🇦 Igor Makidonov (Odessa)
🇺🇦 Alexey Ivanov (???)
🇺🇦 Ivan Shakhovost (???)
🇺🇦 Dmitry Tretyakov (???)
Final results:
🥇 1st place — 🇺🇦 Denis “Di-sS” Semenko (Rovenky) 🏆
🥈 2nd place — 🇺🇦 Artem “ArtiX” Gryshayenko (Zaporizhzhia)
🥉 3rd place — 🇺🇦 Vadym Skolob (Dnipro)
Previously, national winners went straight to the World Final. But this time, due to the limited number of finalists, there was an additional stage – a global international qualifying round. The 54 freestylers who had won their respective national qualifiers were divided into 16 groups. Only the winner from each group will advance to Valencia for the Red Bull Street Style World Final 2021.
🇺🇦 Denis “Di-sS” Semenko was placed in Group E, facing 🇨🇭 Mark Jonin and 🇨🇿 Daniel Prazak. In the end, Denys finished second in the group behind the Swiss freestyler, falling just one step short of the World Final.
Epilogue: A forced pause
On February 24, 2022, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine halted all sports development. The war took away the ability to host events and scale the freestyle scene. It also stalled the growth of a new generation of athletes and their international integration.
However, the Ukrainian freestyle community, like our entire country, is not giving up. The history of Red Bull Street Style in Ukraine is more than a chronicle of events. It is a testament to the resilience and talent of Ukrainians. It shows their deep desire to remain part of the global sports movement. And when peace comes, this story will surely continue.