He was sixteen years old.
Stepan Chubenko was a goalkeeper. He played for the youth team of FC Kramatorsk. He dreamed of being a professional footballer. He took care of the children at the local orphanage with his friends, bringing them toys and books and sweets. He had a girlfriend. They had talked about getting married someday.
In the summer of 2014, three russian-backed militants tortured him for a week and shot him three times in the head in a village near Donetsk.
His killers offered to spare his life if he would side with the so-called “Donetsk People’s Republic.”
He refused.
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