Arakhamiia spoke about his younger years in Mykolaiv, where he had to «survive»

Like Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Davyd Arakhamia took part in ‘KVN’ in his youth. In this photo, he (top left) is part of the Mykolaiv city team, 1998; photo: NikVesti archive

Davyd Arakhamiia, leader of the «Servant of the People» parliamentary faction, spoke about his teenage years, which he spent in Mykolaiv after being forced to move from Abkhazia. According to him, in the 1990s the city became an environment where one had to learn to «survive».

This is reported in a BBC article.

Davyd Arakhamiia was born and raised in Gagra. After the war in Abkhazia broke out in 1992, his family was forced to leave their home. Arakhamiia’s father led the local resistance and was subsequently taken prisoner. To secure his release, the family spent around 50,000 dollars — all their savings at the time.

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After that, the family lived in difficult circumstances, staying with acquaintances for a while. First they ended up in Penza, then in Riga. Later, relatives from Mykolaiv offered the family their house, as they themselves were planning to move to Kamchatka.

So, in 1992, Davyd Arakhamiia, then a teenager aged 12 or 13, found himself in Mykolaiv. He got his first impression of the new city whilst at school.

«My first day at the new school was memorable for the crowd of police officers arresting two older pupils: they’d broken the PE teacher’s leg because he’d said something they didn’t like. It was only my ability to play football that allowed me to leave that school with both legs intact,» recalls Davyd Arakhamiia.

The BBC reports that it was then that he realised Mykolaiv was a city where he would have to fight to survive.

Davyd Arakhamia at a round-table discussion organised by Euromaidan and Antimaidan, 12 May 2014

He also believes that his difficult childhood and teenage years may have shaped his character. In particular, Davyd Arakhamiia attributes his willingness to help people when they find themselves in difficult situations to this.

«I’m a rubbish friend in good times; sometimes I even forget to wish people a happy birthday. But when someone’s in trouble, I’ll help in any way I can. I suppose this is a result of the «saviour complex» I’ve had since childhood. Perhaps it developed because life was tough back then: sometimes we didn’t even have enough to eat,» said the politician.

Davyd Arakhamiia criticises Vadym Novynskyi at a round-table discussion on national unity, 21 May 2014, NikVesti archive

At the same time, those interviewed by the BBC suggest that it was precisely his difficult upbringing in Mykolaiv that may have toughened Arakhamiia up and shaped his negotiating skills.

«For some reason, everyone I know from Mykolaiv is tight-lipped. It’s definitely impossible to talk Davyd round,» noted one of the publication’s sources.

Davyd Arakhamiia gives a statement to journalists in Mykolaiv, 15 August 2014, NikVesti archive

Earlier, the head of the «Servant of the People» parliamentary group, Davyd Arakhamiia, stated that, among the members of the new Cabinet of Ministers, the only person he could call «his own» was Vitalii Kim, Minister for Veterans’ Affairs — the former head of the Mykolaiv Regional State Administration.