Biography

He officially joined the Ivano-Frankivsk Plast station in 2008. He was an instructor and member of the teaching staff of the 79th V. Lypynsky kurin, as well as an instructor in self-reliance for kurin camps and training courses for young people, which took place in the forests of the Bohorodchany district. He later moved to PlastPryat.

When full-scale war broke out, he enlisted in the territorial defense. He patrolled and trained young men, as he had survival skills in the forest. At the first opportunity, he volunteered to go to the front as part of the 68th Separate Jäger Brigade from the Solotvyno Forestry. He was the platoon's chief sergeant. He was wounded during the fighting. After his injury, his family urged him to stay at home and be useful there. However, Ruslan replied, «Better to die standing than to live on your knees», and returned to the front line.

He was killed on July 12, 2022, while performing a combat mission near the village of Yegorivka in Donetsk Oblast.

Posthumously, Ruslan Belyuzhenko was awarded the Iron Plast Cross and the «Distinguished Forestry Worker of Ukraine» badge.

«My father was a multifaceted person, he was passionate about nature, had survival skills in the forest, and gladly shared them with young people», said Yuliana, the daughter of the fallen soldier.