Ukrainian fighter who returned from Scotland to serve killed in action two days before his 21st birthday

Twenty-year-old Arkadii Petrov, who moved to Scotland with his mother, younger brother and two sisters as a teenager, has been killed while carrying out a combat mission in Ukraine's east.

Source: the BBC

Details: Arkadii had begun studying at university abroad, but eventually returned to Ukraine to defend his country.

After Russia's full-scale invasion began in 2022, the boy's family fled the war and found a new home in the Scottish region of Dumfries and Galloway. There, he attended secondary school and even completed one year at the University of Edinburgh.

However, he had to interrupt his university studies after deciding to return to his homeland and join the army. Arkadii, who used the alias Arka, served as a combat medic and drone operator. He was wounded several times in combat.

On 22 September 2026, the family learned that Arkadii had been killed on 18 September while carrying out a combat mission. He was due to celebrate his 21st birthday two days later.

His mother, Liudmyla, said he was "funny, bright, very charismatic and full of life" and an "incredibly loving brother".

"Ukraine was the country he loved more than anything. As the war continued, I could see him becoming more serious. He followed everything that was happening in Ukraine very closely and felt that he could not simply continue his normal life while other Ukrainians were defending the country where he was born," she said.

His mother added that she is immensely proud of her son.

Quote from Liudmyla: "The hardest thing for me is knowing that I will never again see his living face, hear his voice or hold him. I also grieve for the future he was meant to have – his dreams, his family one day, the children he might have had.

I want people to remember not simply that another young soldier died in Ukraine, but that Arkadii was a whole person, deeply loved, with a family, a childhood, a future and dreams.

He was our son, our pride, and I want his name and his life to be remembered."

Details: Peter Kormylo, archivist at the Ukrainian Prisoner of War chapel in Lockerbie, which Arkadii attended, said the entire community was saddened by his death. The clergyman described him as a "very pleasant young man" who was determined to return to Ukraine and fight.

Quote from Peter: "All I can say about the boy is, having met him on a few occasions, he was a very courteous young man and quite a serious young man. The last time I remember him being at the chapel I found him, when everyone had gone, sitting in the chapel writing a couple of what looked like letters – but in actual fact were prayers.

He was a deep thinker and obviously felt the need to do what many Ukrainians are doing and that's fulfill their patriotic duty."

Details: Anthony Tuffery, rector at Arkadii's old school, described him as "a polite, respectful and hardworking young man".

Background: In July 2025, 21-year-old Artem Naliato, who had been adopted by an Italian family at the age of 12, was killed in action.

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