Two Ukrainian boys hailed heroes after video of last words goes viral

‘Farewell! Glory to Ukraine!’ Two 16-year-old boys die from their wounds following gunfight with Russian soldiers ‘that saw them kill two of Putin’s troops’ – as video of their brave last words goes viral

• ‘Two for sure, that’s death, guys. Farewell! Glory to Ukraine!,’ one boy declared
• Tihran Ohannisian and classmate Mykyta Khanhanov have been hailed as heroes

Two 16-year-old Ukrainian boys have been hailed as heroes after they were killed in an apparent exchange of bullets with Russian forces in the occupied city of Berdyansk.

A wounded and bloody Tihran Ohannisian cried ‘Farewell! Glory to Ukraine!’ as he clenched a Kalashnikov and admitted his fate following a clash with two Russians who he said had been gunned down.

Footage of Ohannisian addressing a camera has since gone viral online where he and a fellow classmate, Mykyta Khanhanov, were praised for their bravery and heroics. 

‘Two for sure, that’s death, guys. Farewell! Glory to Ukraine!,’ Ohannisian declares proudly as he raised his fist in solidarity.

Russian forces in occupied Berdyansk said the two 16-year-olds had been killed on Saturday. They said the two boys had killed a civilian as they labelled them ‘pro-Ukrainian terrorists’.

A wounded and bloody Tihran Ohannisian cried ‘Farewell! Glory to Ukraine!’ in the video before his death

Ohannisian was seen with a bloodied hand as he clenched a Kalashnikov and admitted his fate following a clash with two Russians who he said had been gunned down

Human rights activists are now trying to understand the exact circumstances of the boys’ deaths after they became the subject of a European parliament resolution.

The resolution had condemned the torture of Ohannissian and Khanhanov by Russian forces where they and their families were claimed to have long been persecuted.

In September last year, Ohannissian was arrested at his home in Berdyansk by Russian forces who tried to accuse them of sabotaging a railway to disrupt military logistics. Khanhanov was also blamed but he was able to escape the arrest.

It is said Ohannissian was beaten and tortured as the Russian forces tried to elicit a confession from him.

Media and human rights campaigners – largely headed up by the Ukrainian body Media Initiative for Human Rights – eventually helped his release. Ohannissian and Khanhanov were placed under house arrest and ordered to check in at a local police station daily.

‘My son was tortured with electric shocks,’ Ohannissian’s mother, Oksana Starovierova, told reporters, The Times reported.

‘They took him to a field and carried out a mock execution,’ she said. ‘Russians asked him, ‘Are you going to become a guerilla?’ They ordered him to prepare to die.’

Starovierova, her husband, and Ohannissian’s younger sister had left for Germany following the invasion, but Ohannissian had chosen to stay and look after his grandmother. The family returned in January to try and get Ohannissian out of the country, but were prevented from doing do by Russian forces.

Footage of Ohannisian (pictured) addressing a camera has since gone viral online where he and a fellow classmate, Mykyta Khanhanov, were praised for their bravery and heroics

Ohannissian appeared to be wounded and on the floor as he admitted his fate in a final video

In May 2023, Russia’s Investigative Committee eventually charged the boys for the alleged sabotage where they were looking to face up to 20 years in prison.

In return the European parliament introduced a resolution on the case where they called on Russia to ‘end grave violations against children affected by armed conflict’ and for the transfer of the boys to Ukrainian territory.

It also called on Russian authorities to allow the boys access to lawyers and international organisation representatives. However, it has since emerged that neither of them had met with anyone from the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) or the United Nations, as was intended.

The Media Initiative for Human Rights organisation subsequently condemned Russia but also called out the ICRC and the UN for its supposed inaction in facilitating the removal of the young boys. The statement said of the organisations: ‘There was no response to this call.’

The boys are believed to have fled their homes last week, but Starovierova still spoke with her son over the phone days before his death.

The circumstances of their death are still disputed, but they had been awaiting trial in a Russian court when they were killed on Saturday.

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