1997–2022

Roman Ratushnyi

Civic activist and scout

Soldier, Human rights defender

Why did a Kyiv activist go by the call sign “Seneca”? Roman Ratushnyi read the Stoics, was hurt on the Maidan at 16 and later saved Protasiv Yar from developers. A scout with the Kholodnyi Yar Brigade, he was killed near Izium in 2022, aged 24.

Key accomplishments

  • Took part in the Euromaidan; was among those hurt when the Berkut riot police attacked students on the night of 30 November 2013
  • Founded the “Protect Protasiv Yar” initiative (2018) and led the NGO of the same name
  • Won back Protasiv Yar’s green-space status (2020)
  • A scout in the 93rd Kholodnyi Yar Brigade from the first days of the invasion; defended Kyiv and fought in Sumy and Kharkiv regions
  • Order for Courage, 3rd class (posthumously, 2022)

Why “Seneca”?

Roman Ratushnyi was born in 1997 in Kyiv, the son of Taras Ratushnyi, a journalist and activist in the “Save Old Kyiv” movement, and the writer Svitlana Povaliaieva. He loved history, collected books and read Stoic philosophy. That is where his later call sign came from: “Seneca”. In 2012 Roman entered the Finance and Law College, where he studied law.

At 16 he joined the Revolution of Dignity and was among those hurt when the Berkut riot police attacked on the night of 30 November 2013.

Tents in Protasiv Yar

In 2018 Ratushnyi recorded a video appeal to Kyiv residents: a developer wanted to put up three 40-story towers on the slopes of Protasiv Yar in central Kyiv. He gathered activists who camped there in tents and kept watch to stop the developer’s machinery. That is how the “Protect Protasiv Yar” initiative began. When the community decided to set up an NGO, it was Roman who agreed to lead it, and the court cases became his second job. In 2020 Protasiv Yar got its green-space status back, and the building permit was ruled unlawful.

At the front

From the first days of the full-scale invasion Ratushnyi defended Kyiv with the 93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade “Kholodnyi Yar”, then fought as a scout in the Sumy and Kharkiv regions. Roman Ratushnyi was killed near Izium in the Kharkiv region on 9 June 2022. He was 24.

How he is remembered

Roman was posthumously awarded the Order for Courage, 3rd class. On 8 September 2022 Kyiv got a Roman Ratushnyi Street, and Kyiv City Council gave his name to the Protasiv Yar reserve he had fought for. The NGO “Protect Protasiv Yar” carries on his work.