Police senior sergeant Roman Rushchyshyn has served in hot spots in eastern Ukraine since 2015 as part of the volunteer battalion of the Lviv special police patrol service. Together with his brothers, he got into the Debaltsev cauldron and received a true baptism of fire. In March 2022, he died in a battle with Russian invaders in Luhansk region.
On February 24, when the full-scale Russian military invasion began, Roman did not think for a minute – already in the first days, the fighter arrived in the east as part of the battalion of the Lviv special police patrol service.
“When he was near Debaltsev in 2015, he didn’t get in touch for five days – I thought I was going crazy. It would seem that, after what he experienced, there is no further east. But he, on the contrary, yearned for it even more. I asked – why? And he just smiled and said: “If not me, then who?” – says Oksana, wife of Roman Rushchyshyn.
Always smiling, cheerful, sociable – this is how relatives, colleagues and friends remember the fighter. Never complained about anything. Always said – “I’m fine.” When he could not speak, he wrote “4.5.0” – according to Ukrainian military slang, this means “everything is calm.”
And also wore “herring”. No matter how much his wife asked: “Cut it, God forbid, you will be captured”, but he kept joking – “Well, what a Cossack without a herring!”.
Roman has three children growing up – 15-year-old son Roman, 13-year-old daughter Anastasia and 4-year-old Nazarchyk. “He was the best dad. When he was at home, he constantly worked with the children, taught everything he knew and knew. He set up a gym in one of the rooms, worked out with dumbbells with his sons, and did flexibility and stretching exercises with his daughter. By the way, in this room, in addition to sports equipment, Roman installed the flag of the Lviv battalion, as well as a portrait of Roman Shukhevich and Stepan Bandera, Oksana recalls with a warm smile. – As he was in the war, he tried to call as often as he could – to talk with me, with the children, to ask how the eldest was doing, if no one insulted the daughter, and what the achievements of the youngest were. And how many times he painfully told me about children in the east of Ukraine – how they came hungry, crying, and they fed them, tried to help and support them.”
That day, Oksana sent her husband a photo of her youngest son in military ammunition. Then Nazar also told his mother – “Now I am your soldier, I will protect you.” Within a few hours, Roman was gone. He didn’t see this photo anymore…
Roman’s three children remained orphans. The youngest Nazarchyk still does not believe in this – he says: “My dad is a soldier, he cannot die.”
“I also cannot believe that he is gone, although I saw the coffin, kissed his cold forehead. He is alive for me. We always called at a certain time. Now the phone is silent. And I’m constantly waiting for Roman to call and say in a cheerful voice, “I’m fine,” Oksana barely holds back tears.
He was sociable, with a sense of humor, he could find a way out of any situation – this is how his colleagues remember Roman.
“He was a true patriot and every resident of the village knows his house, because there was always a blue-yellow flag flying over the whole of Soposhyn, and this distinguished him from the rest. He was a real Ukrainian Cossack who fought, fought for the independence of Ukraine”, – this is how Roman will be remembered by his fellow villagers.
Roman Rushchyshyn, who died on March 7 while performing a combat mission in Severodonetsk district of Luhansk region, was buried in the village of Soposhin, Lviv district, where he lived with his family. Roman was 44 years old.
By decree of the President of Ukraine, police officer Roman Rushchyshyn was awarded the Order of Courage III degree (posthumously) for his personal courage and selfless actions in the defense of state sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as loyalty to the military oath.
The state award was presented to the family of the fallen soldier by the head of the police of the Lviv Oblast, Oleksandr Shlyakhovskyi.
Eternal glory to the Hero!
Police Communications Department
Lviv region