Monument to the Boy Vova

Near the fountain by the Rybnitsa police station stands a modest but deeply moving statue of a young boy in the act of drawing water — known affectionately throughout the city simply as “the Monument to the Boy Vova.”

Behind this gentle image lies a story of extraordinary childhood courage. According to local legend, in the very opening days of the Great Patriotic War, several wounded Soviet soldiers who had been surrounded by enemy forces took shelter in ruins near the town. They were discovered by chance by Vova — a ten-year-old boy from Rybnitsa — who, responding to their desperate need, began bringing water to the wounded soldiers. For several weeks, the boy quietly and faithfully carried out this dangerous mission, keeping the soldiers alive.

One day, the Germans tracked him. Realizing he was under surveillance, Vova made a decision of remarkable presence of mind for a child his age: instead of leading his pursuers toward the hidden soldiers, he deliberately drew them away in another direction. Running from his trackers, he hid in a haystack — but the occupants set the entire field ablaze, and the boy perished in the flames. The soldiers whose lives he had saved with such selfless courage were meanwhile able to slip away from the town undetected and survive the war.

After victory was achieved, the soldiers built this monument at their own personal expense, bringing it to Rybnitsa immediately after the war as a tribute to the brave boy who had given his life so that they might live.

Location: Near the fountain by the Rybnitsa police station, Rybnitsa