Serhiy Serdiuk, from the small Ukrainian town of Komysh-Zoria, came home to a nightmare. Then he and his wife and daughter were suddenly deported from Russia. He is now subject to a 40-year re-entry ban to the country. Meanwhile, his 21-year-old daughter faces a jaw-dropping 50-year prohibition. With this scenario, we see the consequences of the current war and ongoing tensions between Russia and Ukraine.
Serhiy Serdiuk was born in Komysh-Zoria, located in what is now the Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine. Aside from a few years of schooling in Berdiansk, he had lived in his home city his whole life. Serdiuk began his professional life as a mathematics teacher in the same village’s school, starting in 1999. His commitment and perseverance had been rewarded when he was appointed headteacher in 2018. His unwillingness to work with the new Russian powers that be running Komysh-Zoria had deadly repercussions. This decision not only impacted him, but his wife and three children.
The ongoing military conflict has made it impossible for Serdiuk’s school to stay open. Today, local students are going to school in two regionalized neighboring towns. Serdiuk was already stuck in a downward spiral when he got the perplexing news. Without action, he and his family were facing deportation before the end of 2023. This announcement forced him to make an excruciating decision: to leave behind his mother, who suffers from advanced dementia and had been unable to receive her necessary medication since the invasion began.
Serdiuk described the painful farewell process. In early March, he took his mom to stay with his sister. As he left she would sense his heavy heart because she could not look after her own well being. She is able to engage socially, cognitively, and physically, but not independently. He went on to say that it took continuous, active attention. Or, she’d sneak out of the home and walk back towards the farm where she had been born.
Despite these challenges, Serdiuk has found ways to thrive in his new normal. He’s started giving private maths tuition around the city and is pounding the pavement looking for work at a Malaysian school. Looking back on it, he told me he was very upset at the direction his life took.
I was born there, I’ve lived my entire life there, in the same tiny area, Serdiuk stated. My story I have been evicted from my own home. For someone who thought he lived in a country entirely different from the one he now learns he actually does, how can I be told that?
Serdiuk was fiercely opposed to the Russian regime. He absolutely refused their demands to play along with them in order to fit into their education reform box. His example of the pressure tactics used on officials to have portraits of President Putin hung in each classroom was eye opening. They encouraged children to submit drawings that depicted support for Russian soldiers. “They are demanding that there are portraits of Putin on the walls, that the children draw pictures and write wishes for their soldiers,” he noted.
He particularly noted the psychological toll this demand could take on young children. This all shatters the psychological equilibrium of a young person. A year ago, our home was in Ukraine. Now, as the war escalates, we are back to depicting our saviors as stick figures. If we freeze this conflict, then in two or three years these children will no longer be there,” Serdiuk claimed.
“In reflecting on his individual situation, he opened the door for us into the fear that had entered every facet of his existence under occupation. ‘At least here I can talk normally and not be scared of every passing car,’ he remarked, highlighting his relief at being away from an oppressive environment.”
All of these challenges haven’t deterred Serdiuk from taking a stand—and he refuses to sell out on his beliefs. “I told them I’d never work for them and I kept to that,” he said, demonstrating his commitment to integrity even in the face of adversity.