15-year-old Rostik from a village near Oleshky was left completely alone on the third day of the occupation, after his grandmother passed away. For four months he lived in solitude — eatingwhatever the neighbours brought him, doing odd jobs in town and for acquaintances. Whenever he spotted Russian military vehicles from his window, he would hide. 

When the occupiers noticed that the boy was living alone, they decided to “take care” of him in their own way — they came to his house armed. Together with the collaborator head of thevillage council, they issued an ultimatum: either a Russian school or a boarding school. Two days later, a bus was already pulling up to the boy’s house. Rostyslav was taken to the “Druzhba” camp in Yevpatoria, which he recalls with horror: 

“It’s not a camp — it’s a real prison. Pro-Ukrainian children were kept separately from the others. They pressured us like criminals. They said: ‘Russia is good. And Ukraine will soon cease toexist.'” 

Any sign of disagreement was punished with solitary confinement. Rostik describes it this way: 

“They put you in an isolation room for 4 days. It’s a locked room measuring 2 by 2 metres. Barred windows. They take away your phone. They bring some pills and force you to take them — theysay it’s for your immune system.” 

Rostik was locked in the isolation room four times — the teenager spent 15 days in solitary confinement in total. When he came out, he understood that he wanted only one thing — freedom. Through fellow students, the boy learned about Save Ukraine and left for Ukraine together with our volunteers.