His bravery in the unbearable conditions of propaganda, pressure, and loneliness is breathtaking. At the beginning of the full-scale war, Rostyslav was left all alone at home when his grandmother suddenly died from a heart attack. He survived under the occupation on his own for the next 4 months until armed Russian soldiers came to him with threats. They forced him to go to a Russian school, but Rostik refused.

Two days later, the soldiers came to his house again with machine guns, but this time they forced him to pack his things and go with them without objections. Thus, Rostyslav first ended up in Kherson, where he was enrolled in college, and then in the “Druzhba” camp in Crimea, where he was “forcibly evacuated” along with thousands of Ukrainian children. 

In “Druzhba”, and later in “Luchystyi”, Rostyslav refused to sing the Russian national anthem on the line and raise the flag of the aggressor country. For this “disrespect” and his unwavering Ukrainian position, the boy was sent to the isolation ward 5 times. In total, Rostik spent more than 15 days in a 2-square-meter punishment cell, dreaming of escape. He endured psychological pressure but did not break down.

He continued this resistance to Russian propaganda in the Kerch educational institution, where Rostik was enrolled without asking. Here he didn’t learn Russian, didn’t listen to history lessons about “The Greatest Russia” and categorically refused to get a Russian passport. Although the Russians tried very hard to keep the boy on their territory: they tried to get his fingerprints by fraud and even made a Russian birth certificate without his knowledge.

However, Rostik immediately detected all these frauds and said honestly: “I’m going back to Ukraine.” Fortunately, we were able to realize Rostyslav’s plans and together we overcame all the obstacles on the way to his return to Ukraine. 

Today, Rostik lives at our Hope and Healing Center. There he has found friends and strong support. Our experts continue to assist him in recovering so that he confidently moves forward towards his future. Discovering Rostislav’s passion for photography, on his 18th birthday, we decided to gift him a course in creative photography.

Rostik was very delighted with both the gift and the warm celebration we organized for him together with other children and parents from our center. Soon you’ll see the celebration of this courageous young man’s coming of age in our upcoming video.

However, Rostik immediately detected all these frauds and said honestly: “I’m going back to Ukraine.” Fortunately, we were able to realize Rostyslav’s plans and together we overcame all the obstacles on the way to his return to Ukraine. 

Today, Rostik lives at our Hope and Healing Center. There he has found friends and strong support. Our experts continue to assist him in recovering so that he confidently moves forward towards his future. Discovering Rostislav’s passion for photography, on his 18th birthday, we decided to gift him a course in creative photography.

Rostik was very delighted with both the gift and the warm celebration we organized for him together with other children and parents from our center.

Watch the celebration of this brave young man’s coming of age here.