The story of the brothers from Rubizhny, who became the heroes of the film “The Year”

The mother of the boys from Rubizhny, who became the heroes of Dmitry Komarov’s film “The Year”, was found in the spring of 2022 and is currently in a safe place with her sons and husband.

The woman was captured by the Russians and held for several days, Serhii Gaidai, the head of the Luhansk Regional Military Administration, said.

The five-year-old boy, introduced by Petrovych, and his teenage brother became one of the heroes of Dmitry Komarov’s film “The Year”. The film, which was shot during the year of the war, was shown on the air of a single telethon on February 24, 2023.

In mid-April 2022, half of the city of Rubizhne was controlled by the Russians, and half by ours. The Ukrainian military found two boys in Rubizhny during a patrol. The children were taken to a hospital in the city of Severodonetsk, which at that time was still occupied by Ukrainian authorities.

5-year-old Petrovych

The children said that their mother had gone somewhere a week ago and had not yet returned.

“A rocket fell nearby when my brother and I were sleeping. I was in the kitchen, and my brothers were on the sofa. There was nothing left of the house. Only a small piece, no one lives there anymore. I asked my mother if everything will end tomorrow? And she said : Yes!” – 5-year-old “Petrovych” told the journalist.

It turned out that the father of “Petrovych” was working in Poltava, and the older boy remained in Rubizhny.

The volunteers sent the children to the Poltava region by ambulance, where they were met by Petrovych’s father. The fate of the boys’ mother was not known at the time.

Journalists talk to children in the hospital

According to Serhii Gaidai, a few days later the woman came to the position of the Armed Forces. She said that in early April, the Russians stopped her on the street, detained her and forcibly kept her in the administrative building for several days.

“They forced, blackmailing the children, to scout the positions of the Ukrainian defenders. The woman was beaten and abused. Then she was released”– says Serhiy Gaidai.

Volunteers sent the children to Poltava Oblast by ambulance, where they were met by Petrovych’s father

Returning home, the woman did not find her children and walked to Severodonetsk. On her way, the woman met the servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who told her about the fate of her sons.

Now the whole family is together.

Read also: “We heard the alarm, the planes, the baboons…the war has started”: the scariest day of February through the eyes of children