A Hero's Journey: From Ukraine's Maidan Protests at 16 to Battling Russia at 24

Taras Ratushnyy recalls getting a phone call from his son Roman during the deadly 2013 Maidan Revolution in Ukraine.

"He assured me, 'I'm okay, we're heading home with my friends from Kyiv's Maidan Square. Don't worry, and have a good night,'" Roman said over the phone, while Taras simultaneously heard his son's voice on the television, announcing the protesters' intentions to storm a building.

The protests that swept across Ukraine, representing the country's struggle between Europe and Russia, inspired a new generation to take charge of the nation's future - with Roman at the forefront.

In many ways, his political beliefs were formed long before Maidan. Raised by activist parents and a writer and poet mother, Svitlana Povalyaeva, Roman and his family were actively involved in the Maidan Revolution.

As Roman came of age, the path ahead became clear amidst Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea and the violent clashes between Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists in the eastern regions.

A young Roman Ratushnyy, who joined the Maidan Revolution at just 16 years old.

CNN

By 2022, he had become a well-known environmental and anti-corruption activist, with a following of supporters and admirers.

Then, Russia invaded Ukraine.

Roman, along with his brother and father, promptly joined the military. Nine years after the Maidan Revolution ignited a passion within him, he found himself once again on the battlefield, fighting for the future of his country and the democratic aspirations of his fellow young citizens. However, he was aware that the odds of survival were slim. By May of that year, President Volodymyr Zelensky reported that Ukraine was losing as many as 100 soldiers each day.

During that month, Roman, described by Taras as someone who "had a plan for everything he did," wrote his final will and testament on a single sheet of A4 paper, utilizing both sides. On it, he outlined his wishes for his funeral, including the ceremony, the music, and the Cossack cross monument. He also incorporated a quote from one of his mother's poems and expressed his love for the city of his birth, as well as that of his parents and grandparents: "Kyiv, I died far from you, but I died for you."

Two weeks later, on June 8, 2022, Roman was killed in action near Izium, in the Kharkiv Oblast of eastern Ukraine at the age of 24.

"My son is a true hero of Ukraine," Taras told CNN during a recent visit to the oak-lined cemetery in Kyiv where Roman was laid to rest. It was the 10th anniversary of the Maidan protests; Taras had just one day at home before he returned to the battlefield. "He was a hero every day."

Taras Ratushnyy visits the grave of his son Roman, in a cemetery in Kyiv, Ukraine, in November 2023.

CNN

Fighting for a European future

The Maidan protests were ignited when Ukraine's then-President Viktor Yanukovych suddenly abandoned a trade agreement with the European Union. Advocates of the deal had envisioned it bringing Ukraine closer to the West, spurring economic development, and facilitating trade across borders.

However, Yanukovych, who was pro-Russia, shifted his focus to Moscow, forging new agreements with Vladimir Putin, thereby crushing the opposition's aspirations for closer European ties.

Enraged, thousands of protesters took over Kyiv's Maidan, also known as Independence Square. The demonstrations grew over time to encompass a larger dissatisfaction with Yanukovych's policies, pervasive government corruption, and police brutality, as well as a movement towards pro-democracy and closer ties with Europe.

Anti-government protesters clash with riot police outside the parliament building in Kyiv, Ukraine, on February 18, 2014, during the Maidan Revolution.

Roman, caught in scuffles as violence escalated, showed an early sign of the idealistic, passionate spirit his father would later describe to CNN as he forged ahead.

In her book on the revolution, history professor Marci Shore remembered asking Roman if his mother was troubled by his involvement in the protests. The teenager responded, "My mother was assembling Molotov cocktails on Hrushevskogo Street." The crackdown reached a climax on February 20, 2014, when police and government forces shot at the protesters. It is estimated that approximately 100 people lost their lives during the revolution, which eventually led to Yanukovych being removed from power and forced into exile from Ukraine.

The movement set off a series of events that would tumultuous Ukraine for years, including the annexation of Crimea and the ongoing conflict in the east near Russia's border. However, it also led to a wave of government reforms - as well as instilling hope in a generation of young Ukrainians eager for change.

My youth, my life, and my fight

When the war broke out in 2022, Roman, renowned for his efforts to protect a green space in Kyiv from real estate development, actively participated in the Battle of Kyiv to drive Russian forces out of the capital. He later enlisted in the 93rd separate mechanized brigade, where he played a crucial role in liberating a town from Russian occupation and engaged in combat in Ukraine's northeastern Sumy Oblast.

A photo posted on Instagram by Roman on May 30, 2022, a week before he was killed in action.

CNN

Through it all, he posted occasional Instagram photos of himself and fellow soldiers - at one point posting a poem by the executed Ukrainian intellectual Mykhail Semenko.

Meanwhile, his father tried to avoid thinking about the danger Roman was facing.

In June 2022, Roman's body was brought back to Kyiv after he was killed. The funeral and memorial service were attended by hundreds of mourners, including the city mayor. Large crowds gathered in Independence Square to pay tribute to Roman, the very place where he had fought as a young protester in 2013, when his future seemed so promising.

Crowds of mourners pay their respects to Roman during a farewell ceremony in Kyiv, Ukraine, on June 18, 2022.

Over a year has passed, but the memory of Roman's legacy, along with the Maidan Revolution, still deeply resonates with Ukrainians as the war enters its second winter and Ukraine strives to become a member of the European Union.

In November, the bloc's executive body announced the start of detailed negotiations for membership, advancing a long-held ambition. While CNN visited Roman's grave, two young women paid their respects, leaving behind fresh flower bouquets and candles next to his photograph.