Bohdan Hnatiuk 15, male from Kyiv

Hi, my name is Bohdan. I am 15 years old.

I live near Kyiv, in the Bucha district in a village called Buzova. I have a mother named Anna and a father named Petro. My mom works as a broker. She’s very kind and caring. My dad is an engineer; he works with large printing machines. He’s very strong and smart.

I also have two younger brothers named Volodymyr and Yaroslav. They always make me laugh — it’s never dull when they’re around. And one older brother named Andrii. He is very athletic, and I try to follow his example. We often play sports and other games together. But most of all, I love my pets — a dog and a cat. I really enjoy taking care of them, playing with them, and going for walks.

I study excellently and am among the school leaders. I also host various school events. I often help my younger brothers with their homework.

In my free time, I love going outside and playing games. I’ve even won a few football (soccer) competitions. I also really enjoy programming. I’m learning different languages like Python and Java because I want to become a great programmer in the future.

When I was younger, I took part in theater and won different competitions. I’d love to show you some of that one day too.

Last year, my brother, our friends, and I climbed Hoverla — the highest mountain in Ukraine. It was hard but also really exciting. I really love to travel.

But because of the war, we can’t do that, as there is a war going on in Ukraine. I can’t even walk in the forest because our village was under occupation, and there might still be landmines there. We have air raid alarms almost every day and night. I often can’t fall asleep because of explosions. Several times, I’ve found fragments right in our yard. Because of this, I don’t feel safe. I’m very tired of the war and want to rest from it a bit. More than anything, I want Ukraine to win and for there to be peace all over the world.