Alex Ryzhuk, the 20-year-old Irish man missing in action and presumed dead in eastern Ukraine, always wore a smile and was proud of his Ukrainian heritage, the principal of his Dublin school has said.
Clare Catterson – principal of Synge Street school, where Mr Ryzhuk attended from 2016 to 2021 – along with members of the Ukrainian community in Ireland said they still harboured hope he can be found alive.
Mr Ryzhuk, from Rathmines in South Dublin, was officially deemed missing in action by the Ukrainian military while serving on the frontline in the war against Russia earlier this month.
An Irish citizen born to Ukrainian parents, he had travelled to Ukraine to join the Ukrainian Foreign Legion after turning 18.
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According to a Ukrainian medic familiar with the incident, Mr Ryzhuk, who went by the name “Irlandets” (“Irishman” in Ukrainian), may have been hit by a Russian drone.
Mr Ryzhuk’s family and girlfriend have been informed that he is officially missing, pending confirmation of his death.
Ms Catterson said he “always had a smile on his face” and was deeply involved in school life.
“He always wanted to help others, that was a very strong trait. He had himself involved in all aspects of school life. He was on the judo team, the basketball team. He loved volleyball.
“He particularly loved Halloween. Every year we would do the Trick or Treat for Temple Street – all our students would dress up. And every year he came in decked out from head to toe. Everyone would have been eagerly waiting to see what he would have been dressed up in that particular year.
“He was a very dedicated student as well of the business subjects – accountancy, business, economics, took them all for his Leaving Certificate. He had often spoken about going on to study law when he was here.”
Ms Catterson said the young man had been known as a good role model for younger students, showing them how to embrace all aspects of school life.
“He was very proud of his Ukrainian heritage. He was bilingual. We’ve always been a very multinational, diverse school here in Synge Street, very reflective of the city centre. So you would have heard Alex speaking to other Ukrainian students in his own language. He would often speak about having been home during the summers to visit relatives.”
There had been great shock in the school community when word came through of the situation, she said.
It was an “unbelievable thing to happen to one so young who had so much to give,” she told The Irish Times.
Many teachers had contacted her in shock and sadness as they all remembered the “young man who was just three short years ago walking these corridors in a school uniform with a smile on his face and wanting to help in any way he could”.
“We are thinking of Nicholas and Nina at this time and his close family and his friends.”
Mariya Starukh from the Association of Ukrainians in the Republic of Ireland, said news that Mr Ryzhuk was missing was very sad news, particularly as the local community prepares to mark Ukraine independence day this weekend.
She said with the current situation many Ukrainians living in Ireland hear regularly about loved ones going missing, and it can be very difficult to get updates and developments from Ukraine where the fighting is taking place.
“It is hard to explain just how that feels,” she told the PA news agency.
In an interview with The Irish Times in May, Mr Ryzhuk said that after training in Kyiv, he joined the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade, which has gained a reputation as an elite force and a large public following due to its presence in the toughest battles of the war. He was then deployed with the unit to Bakhmut, Avdiivka and Kharkiv.
In a video posted on the Butusov Plus YouTube channel on March 23rd, he is seen speaking in Ukrainian in a military bunker in eastern Ukraine. In the video Mr Ryzhuk and other soldiers can be seen directing drones against Russian troops from the bunker.
Also in the video, he says his parents confiscated his Irish passport in an attempt to stop him travelling to Ukraine, but he says he applied for a new one and went to Ukraine to join the Ukrainian Foreign Legion when he turned 18. “I tricked my parents a bit. I hope they will forgive me,” he says.
The Ukrainian embassy in Dublin said: “We have been in touch with authorities in Ukraine and can confirm that the person in question is missing in action. I am afraid this is all that we have at the moment.”
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