Artem Volodymyrovych Milevskyi (also transliterated Milevskyy, Ukrainian: Артем Володимирович Мілевський, Belarusian: Арцём Уладзіміравіч Мілеўскі; born 12 January 1985) is a Ukrainian former professional footballer who played as a second striker.[1]
Milevskyi is known both for his technical ability and physicality which allows him to play with a quicker forward.[2] He holds a degree of Master of Sports of Ukraine, International Class (2005).
Milevskyi played at youth level for Belarusian club Smena Minsk. In 2000, he moved to Ukrainian side Boryfsfen Boryspil before joining Dynamo Kyiv in 2002. He made his debut for Dynamo as a late substitute in a UEFA Champions League match against Internazionale on 10 December 2003, aged just 18. It was his only appearance of the 2003–04 season. The next season, he also only made one appearance, this time in the Ukrainian Premier League against Chornomorets Odesa. In the 2005–06 season, Milevskyi began to show his talent for Dynamo, scoring 4 goals in 13 appearances.
In 2006, Milevskyi was voted best footballer in Ukraine for the month of August, in a traditional survey by football journalists, head coaches and captains conducted by sports newspaper Komanda.[4] He scored 8 goals in 21 appearances as Dynamo went unbeaten domestically during the 2006–07 season.
Milevskyi in action.
On 6 September 2007, in the club's 80th anniversary, Milevskyi scored a header in a 2–2 friendly draw with Milan. However, he spent the majority of the 2007–08 season injured, making just 11 appearances (and scoring 5 goals) as Dynamo finished as runners-up to champions Shakhtar Donetsk.
On 6 August 2008, Milevskyi scored a crucial penalty against Drogheda United in the second leg of the Champions League second qualifying round to put Dynamo 2–1 up, in a final 2–2 home draw (4–3 win on aggregate). One week later, he scored twice and assisted to help Dynamo come back from 1–0 down against Spartak Moscow in the competition's third qualifying round, in a 4–1 away triumph. In the return leg, he scored another brace in another 4–1 victory. He finished the 2008–09 season with a career high 18 goals in 41 appearances. The next season, he beat his career high tally for goals, scoring 19 in 37 appearances in all competitions.
On 31 October 2010, Dynamo defeated Mariupol Illichivets 9–0, with Milevskyi scoring his first hat-trick and finishing the match with four goals. He went on to score 13 more goals that season as Dynamo reached the semi-finals of the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League, losing to Braga.
Milevskyi's Dynamo career took a turn for the worse in the 2011–12 season as goals and form began to dry up and his playing time took a big hit. He still managed 9 goals and 13 assist in 29 appearances, but cracks began to show in both his attitude and fitness. The next season was poorer for Milevskyi as he made just 15 appearances and scored 0 goals. He was released by Dynamo at the end of the 2012–13 season.
Gaziantepspor
Milevskyi signed a three-year contract with Gaziantepspor during the summer of 2013.[5][6] While contracted to Gaziantepspor, Milevskyi crashed his Ferrari California,[7][8] and went on to have his contract cancelled by mutual consent on 31 December 2013.[9] He played less than 400 minutes of football that season for Gaziantepspor, scoring one goal and creating one assist.
After his release from Gaziantepspor, Milevskyi joined Kazakh club FC Aktobe in February 2014,[10] however after only one week, there were reports his contract had been terminated.[11] Artem recently described this as one of the toughest points of his career.
Hajduk Split
On 29 July 2014, Milevskyi signed for Croatian club Hajduk Split[12] on a two-year deal. He made his debut for Hajduk in a 6–0 win against Zadar. He scored his first goal for Hajduk in a 2–2 draw with Lokomotiva; he was introduced late in the match alongside Elvir Maloku. In the final six minutes of the match, with Hajduk losing 2–0, Artem assisted his fellow substitute Maloku to make it 2–1, and then scored himself in the final minute to salvage a point for his side.
On 3 September 2015, he was released from Hajduk after his contract was terminated by mutual consent.[13]
RNK Split
After his Hajduk contract was terminated, Milevskyi signed for Hajduk's city rivals RNK Split, however on 4 November 2015, he was released from the club.
Tosno
On 4 July 2017, Milevskyi left FC Tosno by mutual consent.[14]
Dynamo Brest
Milevskyi joined Dynamo Brest for a second time in January 2019, on a contract until the end of 2020.[15]
Mynai
On 24 December 2020 Milevskyi signed a contract for 1.5 years with Mynai, and thus returned to playing in the Ukrainian Premier League.[16]
On 23 September 2021 Milevskyi publicly announced the end of his professional career.[17]
International career
Milevskyi began playing internationally for Belarus, being a part of the nation's unsuccessful qualifying campaign for the 2000 UEFA European Under-16 Championship, before taking Ukrainian nationality.[18] Because he played for the Belarus under-16 team, there was a big international issue in 2003 him joining the Ukrainian side. After some dialogues between Belarusian and Ukrainian federations, an agreement was finally reached. He was part of the Ukraine under-19 team which finished as semi-finalists at the 2004 UEFA European Under-19 Championship. In next year's FIFA World Youth Championship, Milevskyi and Ukraine were ousted in the round of 16.
In the round of 16 match against Switzerland, Milevskyi was one of the three Ukrainian penalty takers who scored in the shootout which followed a 0–0 draw after extra time (while repeating the Panenka trick,[21] which backfired domestically on 26 October 2008, in a league match against Tavriya Simferopol). Ukraine won the shootout 3–0, but ended their 2006 World Cup campaign with a 3–0 loss to eventual championsItaly in the quarter-finals.[22]
Milevskyi scored his first goal for the senior side on 6 February 2008 in a 1–1 friendly draw with Cyprus. His second Ukraine goal was a penalty kick against Slovakia in a friendly match in Cyprus on 10 February 2009.
On 26 May 2012, he was called up by manager Oleh Blokhin in the provisional list of 26 players for UEFA Euro 2012 and three days later for the final list.[23][24] He made three appearances during the tournament as Ukraine was eliminated in group stage.[25]
He has not played for the national team since October 2012, with his last appearance coming against Moldova.[26]
