Антон Прасоленко: за покликом серця

Autumn, 2016, Kyiv. Seventeen-year-old Anton Prasolenko, a translation student, discovered an amateur theater called Babylon in the capital. Having come to support his friend, he watched the auditions, and... thought of taking up acting himself. "What if I try it out?" The idea ignited Anton’s imagination because creativity was exactly what he needed. It was something he yearned to immerse himself in every day. Anton grew up in a creative environment at his home in Berdiansk: he studied singing and photography, took piano lessons at a music school, and taught himself to play the double bass, saxophone, and guitar. Always eager for new means of self-expression, Anton decided to embark on his next stage—acting—in Kyiv, a city that was new to him. He arrived at the Babylon Theater and landed his first role right away.

Winter, 2022, Kyiv. Anton Prasolenko, a twenty-two-year-old university graduate, actor at the Babylon Theater, and barista in Kyiv, enlisted in the Territorial Defence Forces. Tetiana Reva, Anton’s fiancée, a paramedic and an actress at the Babylon Theater prior to the full-scale war, described the decision he made in the last days of February: "He followed the call of his heart–he couldn’t have done it any other way. Anton would have been lying to himself if he hadn’t gone through with it."

In spring 2023, Anton Prasolenko, a twenty-three-year-old aerial reconnaissance man and fighter of the 207th Battalion in the 241st Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, sustained serious injuries in battle near Bakhmut. Doctors spent a week trying to save him, but on March 30th, he succumbed to his injuries.

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Anton enjoyed a variety of things, like vibrant badges that he could pin on the lapels of his coat or backpack, colorful ties featuring cartoon characters that he paired with a classic shirt. He sought avenues for self-expression in everything he did, whether it was in coffee making, which was both his hobby and job (he was even tasked with developing a menu for the Nrg Frog coffee shop in Kyiv), in photography (having held an exhibition in Kyiv), and, of course, in the theater—a place he considered his island of trust and a platform for experimentation.

Anton’s deep and sincere love for the theater endured for a period of five and a half years, although it was marked by challenges. The young man was a highly extraordinary and expressive personality. He felt and lived emotions to the fullest—both on stage and in life. "If it was happiness, it was so strong that the whole room shook and every person in it felt how happy Anton was," recalled Olha Dunebabina, an actress at the Babylon Theater and Anton’s stage partner.

"Our relationship as director and actor was far from idyllic; Anton was one of those strong-willed actors. Sometimes he would listen, and sometimes he would only pretend to listen," Iryna Savchenko, the artistic director of Babylon, said. "It was his unique trait, and you either accepted it or not." In the theater, which united non-professional actors and allowed some of them to portray aspects of their own lives on stage, Anton found acceptance.

Prasolenko’s distinctive qualities were his dedication and efficiency. "If he put in 350 percent effort, you simply had no right to put in 70 percent. Anton’s enthusiasm motivated the whole troupe," said Olha Dunebabina. When preparing for a new role, he had the ability to immerse himself in tons of material, studying films, books, and articles extensively. His goal was to delve as deeply as possible into it, uncover the truth, grasp the essence of the character, and effectively convey it to the audience.

Anton performed a total of eight roles during his time in the theater. One of his standout performances was as Impulse in the play "Physiology," adapted from Mykhailo Bilan's work, "The Mouth." The narrative follows Little Cherry’s journey into the human body, prompting Mother Cherry to embark on a mission to save her child. She appeals to various body parts and authorities, begging them that her child not be consumed. The character conveying this information to the authorities is Impulse, a naked nerve openly expressing its disdain for bureaucracy and indifference. "The role of Impulse was to establish micro-images, and Anton handled this task with maximum precision—the actor’s idea was perfectly clear," said director Iryna Savchenko.

Oleh Prasolenko, Anton’s father, recalled the character of the Messiah in the play "Golgotha" by Oleh Honcharov. His son performed the main role in the play, and it was his final role as an actor. In the play, Anton’s character carries a cross. The same cross now stands on the young man’s grave at Berkovetsky Cemetery in Kyiv. "It was Tetiana, Anton’s fiancée who suggested it," said Oleh. "Now they are planning to build a memorial complex on the alley where the soldiers are buried. If this happens, we would like to leave the wooden cross from the theater near our son’s grave. It is very important for our family."

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2000s, Berdiansk. The Prasolenko family ran a construction business, so you can always find adhesive tape at their home. It became young Anton’s favorite toy. Alongside his younger brother Zhenia, he crafted swords by wrapping ballpoint and gel pens with tape, while knight’s bows made from improvised tools and adhesive tape were certain to be found in their home arsenal. The phrase "Give Anton some adhesive tape—he’ll fix anything!" stuck with him even when he was a teenager. And it remained true later on in life. While serving in the army, Anton used adhesive tape to fix the bumper on his platoon commander’s car and to repair his headphones. "Anton had a habit of getting into my car and immediately checking the glove compartment. If there was adhesive tape there, he took it for himself. He always had it on a carabiner on his belt," recalled his father Oleh.

Anton Prasolenko, call sign "Isolenta" (Ukrainian for adhesive tape), was an aerial reconnaissance fighter of the 207th Battalion of the 241st Brigade of Ukraine’s Territorial Defense Forces. He joined the military on the second day of the full-scale war. Alongside his best friend Yaroslav Savchenko, also an actor in the Babylon Theater, they took part in the Battle of Kyiv. Twenty-two year-old Yaroslav Savchenko was later killed in the spring of 2023 in a battle in Donetsk Oblast. After the Russians were pushed back from Kyiv Oblast, Anton began to delve into all the possible nuances of drone control, and he was very successful at it. "If Anton was interested in something, he wanted to understand it down to the smallest detail. This was the case in his work, creativity and military service," said Oleh Prasolenko. "One of my son’s colleagues once said: ‘I can entrust my dream to few people, but I trust Anton unconditionally’."

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"It was true love, the kind you see in the movies," said Oleh, smiling, and after the conversation he sent over a photo of a girl and a boy hugging tightly against a colorful backdrop.

Anton Prasolenko and Tetiana Reva got engaged in the spring of 2022. They seized every opportunity to be together, both before the full-scale invasion, during their three and a half years living together in Kyiv, and afterwards, when Anton became an aerial reconnaissance officer and Tetiana a paramedic. One time, Tetiana and Anton’s units ended up close to each other in eastern Ukraine. Prasolenko managed to come over for a date. "He took a taxi from Sloviansk to Kramatorsk. We spent a day and a half together. It seemed like so little time, but now I remember our 10-minute meetings in the intensive care unit of a Kyiv military hospital and think: ‘A day and a half... thank you’."

Anton considered the quarantine period in Berdiansk one of the happiest times in his life. During the Covid pandemic, he and his girlfriend visited Anton’s homeland near the Azov Sea.They planned to wait out the pandemic there for a week and a half, but ended up staying for two months. The renovation of the Prasolenko’s new house was in full swing. The whole family was together–Anton, his father Oleh, mother Natalia, brother Zhenia, and his beloved Tetiana.

At that time, in the spring of 2020, young Anton had already achieved so much, yet still had so many unknown and new ventures ahead of him.

"He always followed his heart’s calling," said Tetiana, "He was passionate and shared his passion with others. Once he conquered one peak, he headed for the next."

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How many more peaks could Anton have conquered? An actor, musician, translator, barista, volunteer soldier, drone operator, and defender of Ukraine—his life was cut short by Russia at the age of 24. What inspirations and ideas might have driven him further?

He was a young man who used to send his tips from the coffee shop shifts to a cat shelter, cooked the world’s most delicious miso soup, danced to The Beatles with his beloved Tetiana in a park in the capital’s residential district, and dreamed of naming his son Yanis, after the lead singer of his favorite band Foals, when the time came.