Participant of the regional contest "Young Person of the Year – 2025" in the nomination "A Heart Given to Donetsk Region" Liliiana Riabenko
Liliiana Riabenko is the head of the Malynivka village council within the Hrodivka community, a young leader whose heart has been forever tied to her native Donetsk region. After graduating from a university in Kharkiv, and with countless opportunities to stay in a big city, Liliiana returned home without hesitation—to her native Malynivka. It's the place where her childhood passed, where generations of her family lived, and where every corner is familiar and cherished.
In 2020, she became the village head, pouring her soul into the development of the community and the lives of every person around her. The full-scale invasion became a difficult test for every Ukrainian. For Liliiana, it was a choice of the heart: to leave her home or to stay with those who needed support. A mother of two small children, she could have moved to a safer place, but she chose to stay, because her front line was here.
During the most difficult months of 2022, she organized collections of goods and food for displaced people, met people from frontline territories, delivered aid, and looked after the residents of her native village. She helped those who couldn't evacuate on their own, and supported pensioners who entrusted her with their most important needs: medicine, pensions, and household chores. Together with her husband, Oleksandr, they supported our defenders—from providing housing and food to offering care and gratitude.
When the situation became critical, the Hrodivka community was relocated to Dnipro. Liliiana and her family also moved, but she never left the community behind. She was one of the initiators of the Hrodivka village council’s Humanitarian Office in Dnipro—a place that became a point of support for hundreds of people. There, they help displaced people from the community by providing services, holding events, distributing aid, and maintaining a connection between people and their home. Liliiana also did not forget those who remained in her native Malynivka. Until the fall of 2024, she risked her life to personally travel to dangerous areas, bringing medicine, food, supporting people, and persuading them to evacuate. Staying in touch with everyone who needed help, she even organized transportation for the wounded and accompanied them to hospitals—not because of her position, but because of a call from her heart.
Today, residents of the community are scattered across the country, but Liliiana continues to be there for them. At her initiative, a system for postal delivery of humanitarian aid was created: people submit requests, support is gathered, and she personally delivers the packages to post offices in Dnipro. At the same time, she remains the secretary of the Hrodivka village military administration's youth council, actively supporting young people, developing initiatives, helping to organize events, and inspiring and uniting them.
Liliiana Riabenko is not just a village head, a mother, or a displaced person. She is a woman whose heart beats in unison with the Donetsk region. She demonstrates incredible strength, loyalty, and responsibility, and her daily actions are an example of an unbreakable love for her native land.