A former pupil at the Academy has been killed in action on the frontline in Ukraine.
Arkadii Petrov and his family moved to Dumfries and Galloway when he was a teenager, following Russia’s invasion in 2022.
He attended Kirkcudbright Academy before returning to Ukraine to fight and was killed in action in the east of the country.
His mother, Liudmyla, said he was “funny, bright, very charismatic and full of life” and had been an “incredibly loving brother” to his younger sisters and brother.
She said the family had been told on 22 September that her eldest son had been killed in a combat mission on 18 September – just two days before he would have turned 21.
As well as attending Kirkcudbright Academy, he also went to the University of Edinburgh for a year before interrupting his studies to return to Ukraine.
“Ukraine was the country he loved more than anything,” said his mother.
“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.”
