Participant of the regional competition “Young Person of the Year - 2025” in the nomination “Law Enforcement Officer” Kateryna Vorobyova
My name is Kateryna Vorobyova. I was born in 2003 in the cozy town of Volnovakha in Donetsk Oblast. It was a land of peace and sincere people, where my childhood smelled like my mother's pies, and my evenings were spent listening to crickets and the silence of the steppes. I had a simple but happy childhood: my parents and two younger brothers, whom I was used to protecting from a young age. That's probably when my sense of duty was born - deep, like the roots of a tree that keeps a person grounded when a storm is raging around them.
I studied at the Volnovakha basic school. For me, school was not only a place of knowledge, but also a platform for inner growth. In 2020, despite all the difficulties, I graduated with excellent results and embarked on a new journey - to Kharkiv, to the National University of Internal Affairs. I chose the specialty “Law Enforcement” without hesitation. For me, the police has never been just a uniform or a weapon. It is a mission. It may sound loud, but I believe that when the world is falling apart, someone has to be its pillar.
2022 was the year that forever divided life into “before” and “after”. The full-scale invasion forced me and my family to leave Volnovakha. We were not running away - we were saving lives. Those days were like a stopped breath: you are still alive, but you are not breathing. Kharkiv, university, studies - everything was mixed with war, news, tears. But I knew that I had to complete the journey I started in my childhood, when I became a shield for my brothers.
In 2023, I graduated from university. And I returned. Not to my home, because my home was destroyed. I returned to my native land, to my native pain. I started working at the Volnovakha District Police Department of the Donetsk Oblast Police. Today I am a senior police lieutenant. It sounds official. But for me it is something more. It is about faith in justice, loyalty to the oath, and the fact that even in the darkest times you can remain a Human Being.
My desire is to serve. Not by force, but by choice. To protect. To stand guard over the law and human dignity. I know that there will be many more challenges. But Donetsk region lives in me - strong, stubborn, unconquerable. I will not break.
I am only 22 and have a whole life ahead of me. But today I realize the main thing: to be yourself is to have courage. The courage to be needed when you are scared. And to be alive - even when there is pain around.