Ukraine war: Ukrainian ‘boy on the bridge’ turned army cook dreams of becoming professional chef
We’d been worrying about Serhiy Petrushenko, a 21-year-old boy we met guarding a bridge in central Kyiv completely on his own on the second day of the war.
He became an overnight sensation after our report, the interview was watched well over 50 million times on social media alone.
When we spoke to him his fear was honest, visceral and compelling, and his concern for his family – whose village was already surrounded by Russian soldiers – was so vivid, even on film.
We’ve been thinking about him ever since.
Like so many people at the time, Serhiy thought that the Russians were coming, and he was going to die.
Within hours of our broadcast Sky News was inundated with people asking for more information.
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And those messages of concern for the boy on the bridge, as we know him, continue today. So we asked the Ukrainian military if they could confirm he was alive and help us find him.
It took them over two months to track him down. To be fair, it’s a tough ask in the chaos of war, but they did at least confirm he was alive.
This week I met Serhiy again, he’s working as an army cook. We shook hands and later hugged.
To this day he can’t really believe how he has become so well known, how hundreds of people still write to him every day, and how he has invitations to visit them after the war… from Finland to Hawaii.
“Hundreds of people, hundreds of people on social media text me every day. Every day they ask me about my family, how I am doing,” he told me.
“I tried to reply to all the messages individually but in the end I just couldn’t.”
We met in a field kitchen next to the woods in the Kyiv region as he was preparing lunch for soldiers training for battle.
“The first time we met, I was not cooking at that time, but a few months ago, I came to where I belong, to the kitchen. And, for months I’ve been cooking for my soldiers in many places.”
It’s an unheralded job but incredibly important – soldiers can’t fight if they are hungry.
It’s also inspired him to dream. After the war Serhiy wants to travel to Italy, sample the cuisine, and maybe even train to be a professional chef.
He says he has grown up quickly over the last 12 months. “I feel older, and I look older since you met me,” he said smiling and laughing.
We met at the start of the war by chance, to be honest.
On a whim we decided to film the many bridges that cross into the heart of Kyiv, and the pedestrian bridge we spotted as we drove by was perfect.
With his rifle in his arms, Serhiy walked towards us to ask us what we were doing. We explained and he said we could film but that he had to stay and watch us.
He was a nice kid, and as we finished filming, I asked without any expectation of agreement if we could interview him.
We didn’t speak for long, but his story resonated with people around the world.
He seemed somewhat bemused as to what use he could actually be as he had only fired 16 rounds in his life.
That number is now between 50 and 60, he says. But he prefers cooking.
Serhiy’s home village in the Sumy region was liberated by the Ukrainian forces after being taken by Russia, and he says his parents and grandparents are all well.
Serhiy Petrushenko speaking to his mother Lyudmyla Petrushenko
“I’m lucky that my family’s fine. My relatives, my friends, they are fine. But when they occupied my village, some people got hurt, some people were killed.”
Like many here, he is convinced Ukraine will win.
“People are very determined to defend the country… we will eventually push them [Russia] back to their borders, maybe even forward. Yeah, they will not win.”
In truth I never thought Serhiy was really cut out for fighting and frankly, nor did he.
But he’s not scared anymore and says he will keep feeding “his boys”, as he calls the soldiers.
The boy on the bridge is a man now.
“Super high-IQ revolutionaries” who are willing to work 80+ hours a week are being urged to join Elon Musk’s new cost-cutting department in Donald Trump’s incoming US government.
The X and Tesla owner will co-lead the Department Of Government Efficiency (DOGE) with former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
And in a post on X, the official DOGE account put out a call to arms for people to sign up and help “dismantle government bureaucracy”.
The post said: “We are very grateful to the thousands of Americans who have expressed interest in helping us at DOGE.
“We don’t need more part-time idea generators.
“We need super high-IQ small-government revolutionaries willing to work 80+ hours per week on unglamorous cost-cutting.
“If that’s you, DM this account with your CV. Elon & Vivek will review the top 1% of applicants.”
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Elon Musk speaking at an event held at Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. Pic: AP Photo/Alex Brandon
In a reply to an interested party, Mr Musk suggested the lucky applicants would be working for free.
“Indeed, this will be tedious work, make lost of enemies & compensation is zero,” the world’s richest man wrote.
“What a great deal!”
When announcing the new department, President-elect Donald Trump said Mr Musk and Mr Ramaswamy “will pave the way for my administration to dismantle government bureaucracy, slash excess regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure federal agencies”.
Mr Musk has previously made clear his desire to see cuts to “government waste” and in a post on his X platform suggested he could axe as many as three-quarters of the more than 400 federal departments in the US, writing: “99 is enough.”
At least 10 people have been killed after a fire broke out at a retirement home in northern Spain in the early hours of this morning, officials have said.
A further two people were seriously injured in the blaze at the residence in the town of Villafranca de Ebro in Zaragoza, according to the Spanish news website Diario Sur.
Two people remain in a critical condition following the blaze. Pic: AP
They remain in a critical condition, while several others received treatment for smoke inhalation.
Firefighters were alerted to the blaze at the residence – the Jardines de Villafranca – at 5am (4am UK time) on Friday.
Several residents were treated for smoke inhalation. Pic: AP
Those who were killed in the fire died from smoke inhalation, Spanish newspaper Heraldo reported.
The residence is home to 82 elderly residents.
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The blaze started in one of the rooms, Fernando Beltran, the national government’s top official in the region, told reporters.
All of the victims were elderly residents, he added.
Relatives wait for news outside the care home. Pic: AP
Fire crews, paramedics and police officers remain on site, said a spokesperson for the regional government of Aragon who confirmed the fatalities.
It took firefighters several hours to extinguish the blaze, they said.
The cause of the fire is unknown and is being investigated.
At least 10 people have been killed after a fire broke out at a retirement home in northern Spain in the early hours of this morning, officials have said.
A further two people were seriously injured in the blaze at the residence in the town of Villafranca de Ebro in Zaragoza, according to the Spanish news website Diario Sur.
Two people remain in a critical condition following the blaze. Pic: AP
They remain in a critical condition, while several others received treatment for smoke inhalation.
Firefighters were alerted to the blaze at the residence – the Jardines de Villafranca – at 5am (4am UK time) on Friday.
Several residents were treated for smoke inhalation. Pic: AP
Those who were killed in the fire died from smoke inhalation, Spanish newspaper Heraldo reported.
The residence is home to 82 elderly residents.
Read more from Sky News:
Mass displacement in Gaza – people unsure where to go
Donald Trump picks vaccine sceptic as health secretary
Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News
The blaze started in one of the rooms, Fernando Beltran, the national government’s top official in the region, told reporters.
All of the victims were elderly residents, he added.
Relatives wait for news outside the care home. Pic: AP
Fire crews, paramedics and police officers remain on site, said a spokesperson for the regional government of Aragon who confirmed the fatalities.
It took firefighters several hours to extinguish the blaze, they said.
The cause of the fire is unknown and is being investigated.
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