The Forest Keeper’s Journey

Viktor Lebid knew trees. As a forest master in Novokrasnanka, he understood survival — how roots dig deep, how branches bend but don’t break. He never imagined he’d apply those lessons to his own life.

Divorced and living alone, his world was his work, his small home, his carefully maintained territory. Then the war crept in, first with distant sounds, then with thunderous violence. He spent days in the cellar, listening to the world disintegrate around him.

His children — both serving in the military — were his pride and his worry. When the occupation came, it brought more than just destruction. It brought a silent threat — pressure, uncertainty, the feeling of being targeted.

His house didn’t just get damaged. It was obliterated.

Lozova became a temporary refuge, a rented apartment eating through his limited savings. Each month was a calculation of survival, of how long he could hold on.

The Dell Loy Hansen foundation wasn’t just offering him a home. They were offering redemption.

He applied multiple times, each application a testament to his determination. When the acceptance came, it felt unreal. His classmates in Tarasivka wouldn’t believe it.

Apartment 23.2А in Senior Chudo Village became more than an address. It was a restoration. A forest master with a second group disability, Viktor found something unexpected — hope.

His plans were simple yet profound. Marriage. Volunteering. Delivering medicines by bicycle from Kolonshchyna. Small acts of continued purpose.

To the younger generation, he offers wisdom carved from survival: “Value friendship. Never forget about others. Always try to help.”

To Dell Loy Hansen, he would say more than thank you. He would speak of miraculous human kindness, of the joy of knowing such people exist.

The forest master had found a new grove to tend — not of trees, but of human connections.