As part of the “Hear the Hero” project, an extended meeting was held with veteran Rostislav Serikov. The event, which has already become an effective tool for national and patriotic education, was organized by the Novogrodivka City Military Administration with the support of the Donetsk Regional State Administration.
Deputy Head of the Donetsk Regional State Administration Oleksandr Shevchenko, Head of Department at the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine Olha Potekhina, representative of the Ukrainian Institute of National Remembrance Hanna Baikenich, Natalia Kharchenko, Head of Department at the Institute of Education Problems of the National Academy of Pedagogical Sciences of Ukraine, and the project’s ideologist, Olga Sidorova, Deputy Head of the Novohrodivka City Military Administration.
Oleksandr Shevchenko noted: “The ‘Hear the Hero’ project is a vivid example of how national-patriotic education in the Donetsk region is becoming not just a requirement of the curriculum, but a living and, most importantly, systematic endeavor.”
Representatives from the Department of Veterans’ Policy, the Department of Family, Youth, and Mass Events of National-Patriotic Education, and the Department of Education and Science of the Donetsk Regional State Administration also participated in the event. It was precisely this synergy among the relevant departments that enabled the project to be scaled up from the local to the regional level.
“The ‘Hear the Hero’ project is an incredible opportunity to hear the stories of those people thanks to whom we exist and Ukraine exists... Our task is to listen, draw the right conclusions, and be inspired,” added Olga Potekhina.
Schoolchildren from 13 communities in the Donetsk region, as well as students from vocational schools and technical colleges, joined the meeting in a unified digital space. To date, the “Hear the Hero” project has already brought together nearly 2,800 participants.
The main hero of the meeting was Rostislav Serikov, a native of Donetsk, born in Makiivka. His journey embodies the struggle of Donetsk Oblast: he became a volunteer back in 2015, later serving in the State Border Guard Service’s Maritime Guard in Mariupol, where he faced a full-scale invasion. Rostislav fought his way through the fiery ring of Azovstal, endured two years of harsh enemy captivity in Olenivka and a detention center, and returned home as part of a major New Year’s prisoner exchange. The conversation was sincere and profound.
The young people actively asked questions about service, trials, the strength of endurance, and what helped him not to lose faith even in the most difficult moments. Rostislav openly shared his memories, thoughts, and life experiences—things that are hard to find in textbooks but so important to hear.
“There is a philosophical saying by Marcus Aurelius: ‘Do what you must, and let come what may.’ Even knowing what I went through... I would still have gone all the way,” Rostislav shared with the young people.
We sincerely thank Rostislav Serikov for his courage, strength, and for finding the time and words to share his experience with the youth.
According to information from the Novogrodivka Military Administration