Participant of the regional competition “Young Person of the Year - 2025” in the nomination “Public figure of the year” Kyrylo Ponomarenko
Kyrylo Ponomarenko is the president of the student government of Bakhmut and the chairman of the Donetsk Regional Council of Student Government Leaders “Leader”.
Kyrylo has demonstrated activity, dedication and creativity since his early school years. With the beginning of the full-scale invasion, he actively joined the volunteer movement. Together with his school presidential team, he initiated and organized a joint fundraiser for the Armed Forces of Ukraine. For this activity, the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, through the Ukrainian State Center for Extracurricular Education, awarded him awards for his active citizenship, volunteer work in support of the Armed Forces, and the implementation of social projects to protect children's rights at the national level.
Recently, Kyrylo hosted the Bakhmut Connection student government leaders' forum, which became a symbol of unity. The event was attended by representatives from all over Donetsk region. In the future, he plans to organize a joint meeting of the leaders of Donetsk and Kirovohrad regions.
While living in Vinnytsia, Kyrylo continues to actively create the future of Donetsk region and Ukraine. Despite the fear, pain, sadness and war, he does everything he can to ensure that student government leaders work and develop. He also had the opportunity to represent Bakhmut at the World Forum, which was a great honor and pride for him.
Formerly a member of the Bakhmut City Center for Children and Youth Creativity, Kyrylo took on the role of coordinator after its closure, keeping student government leaders in constant “fighting shape.” He emphasizes that the achievements would not have been possible without the support of the organizers and his team. The experience he gained at the city center for children and youth creativity gave him the opportunity to implement his own projects, including the Bakhmut Family. This project has become his pride because it has united the people of Bakhmut.
Kyrylo is also the founder of his own online course, where he helps teachers learn how to work with new applications and improve their effectiveness in online lessons.
Together with his team, Kyrylo organized the online contest “Bakhmutvision” - an analog of the Eurovision Song Contest. This year, representatives from other communities in Donetsk Oblast took part in the contest, and all participants received author's diplomas.
Despite the fact that Kyrylo has already graduated from high school, he continues to work for the benefit of the leaders and the future of Ukraine and Donetsk region.