Scottish School Community Mourns Former Pupil Killed Fighting for Ukraine

A former pupil of a high school in south-west Scotland has been killed while fighting on the front line in Ukraine, prompting an outpouring of grief from both his old school and the Ukrainian community that welcomed him as a refugee.

Arkadii Petrov, who was 21 years old, died in action in the east of the country, according to tributes paid this week. His death has resonated deeply in Dumfries and Galloway, the region where he rebuilt his life after fleeing the war with his family.

Petrov arrived in Scotland as a teenager, having left Ukraine with his mother and three younger siblings following Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. The family settled in Dumfries and Galloway, and Petrov went on to attend Kirkcudbright Academy, where he completed his final year of secondary education.

Peter Kormylo, archivist at the Ukrainian Prisoner of War chapel in Lockerbie, where Petrov was a regular attendee at services, said the whole community had been shaken by the loss. He described the young man as someone who would be remembered as forever young — a sentiment captured in the tribute that has come to define the reaction to his death.

"He was 21 — he'll be forever 21," Kormylo said, reflecting on a life cut short after a journey that took Petrov from a war-torn homeland to a quiet corner of Scotland and back again to the fight.

Kormylo recalled Petrov as a courteous and serious individual, noting that he had met him on several occasions at the chapel. He described him as a young man who had always harboured a determination to return to Ukraine and take up arms, even as he was settling into life in Scotland.

The archivist recounted a particularly poignant memory of Petrov at the chapel, recalling how he had found him sitting alone after everyone else had left, writing what appeared to be letters but which turned out to be prayers. Kormylo said the moment revealed a deep-thinking young man who felt compelled to fulfil what he described as a patriotic duty shared by many Ukrainians.

Petrov had come to Scotland at the age of 16 or 17 with his mother, arriving as refugees who, in Kormylo's words, did not know what the future would bring. Despite the uncertainty of displacement, Petrov held a firm belief in Ukraine's eventual victory, a conviction that ultimately led him to make what Kormylo described as a very adult decision to return and fight.

The news of his death has been felt keenly across the Ukrainian community in southern Scotland, which has maintained close ties through the chapel in Lockerbie. The small chapel has served as a focal point for Ukrainian worship and support since the earliest days of the conflict, offering practical help and solidarity to those displaced by the war.

Anthony Tuffery, rector at Kirkcudbright Academy, said everyone at the school was saddened to learn of Petrov's death. He noted that although Petrov had only attended the school for one year to complete his S6 studies, he had made an impression as a polite, respectful and hardworking young man.

Tuffery extended the school's deepest sympathies to Petrov's family and friends, saying their thoughts were with them at what he described as an incredibly difficult time. The tribute reflects the mark Petrov left on a school community that knew him only briefly but remembered him clearly.

Petrov's story reflects a wider pattern seen since the outbreak of the war, with a number of Ukrainians who had sought refuge abroad choosing to return home to serve in the armed forces. For families who had hoped to find safety for their children in countries such as the UK, such decisions have brought both pride and profound anxiety.

The death also underscores the human cost of a conflict that continues to claim lives more than four years after Russia's invasion began. For the Ukrainian diaspora in Scotland, each loss is felt as a personal one, reinforcing the bonds between communities thousands of miles apart.

Petrov's mother and his younger brother and two sisters remain part of that diaspora, having built their lives in Scotland while he chose a different path. His decision to return to Ukraine, made as a young adult, has left those who knew him in both countries mourning a life defined by a sense of duty.

Community figures in Dumfries and Galloway said the loss would be felt well beyond Petrov's immediate circle. Kormylo said everyone felt the pain of his death, describing the reaction as one of collective sorrow for a young man who had once been a teenager maturing in their midst before gathering his own thoughts and choosing to fight.

The tributes paint a portrait of a thoughtful young man who balanced the ordinary experiences of school life in Scotland with an enduring attachment to his homeland. His former school and his church community, separated by geography but united in grief, have both offered condolences to his family.

Petrov's death comes amid continued fighting in eastern Ukraine, where clashes have remained intense. The region has been the site of some of the most sustained combat of the war, and it is there that the former Kirkcudbright Academy pupil lost his life.

For the Ukrainian chapel in Lockerbie, which has long offered a helping hand to those affected by the conflict, Petrov's death represents a painful reminder of the war's reach. The community that once welcomed him as a refugee now mourns him as a fallen soldier.

Those who knew Petrov say he believed in Ukraine's victory even in the uncertain early days of his displacement. That belief, and the sacrifice that followed, now form the legacy of a young man who will be remembered in Scotland as forever 21.