Activist and Soldier Roman Ratushnyi Killed In Battle, Veteran Of Revolution Of Dignity and Euromaidan Protests

Roman Ratushnyi, a former student activist and current prominent civil activist from Kyiv, Ukraine, and servicemember of the 93rd Mechanized Kholodnyi Yar Brigade, was killed fighting in Kharkiv region against Russian forces. Notably he participated in the Revolution of Dignity at the age of 16, and was a civil society activist. Organizing in Maidan square and facing the full brutality of the police at the beginning of the protests while he was a student. The Revolution of Dignity, or Euromaidan Revolution, occured when deadly clashes between protesters and the security forces in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv culminated in the ousting of elected Russian-aligned President Viktor Yanukovych and the overthrow of the Ukrainian government in 2014, these events included the Russian military intervention, the annexation of Crimea by Russia, and the creation of the self-proclaimed breakaway states of Donetsk and Luhansk. Roman fell in battle aged 24, a month before his 25th birthday. The official Twitter account of Ukraine's Defence Intelligence made the announcement, which was followed by hundreds of tributes being paid. "93-strong military intelligence officer killed at the front, Roman Ratushny, a well-known public activist before the war, on July 5, he was to turn 25 years old. Heroes do not die! Glory to Ukraine!" the post read. Roman joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the first day of the full-scale Russian invasion. At first, he fought in the battle of Kyiv, later his 93rd Independent Kholodnyi Yar Mechanized Brigade was involved in the recapturing of Trostyanets, Sumy Region, and the battle of Izyum.