Legend of the Korabelnyi District: a mural depicting Vadym Serdtsev will appear on the school wall

On the wall of Mykolaiv Lyceum No. 40 (former School No. 40) in the Korabelnyi district, work is being completed on a mural intended to immortalize the memory of Vadym Serdtsev – the city’s renowned greening activist, a former engineer at the Mykolaiv alumina plant and later an active retiree who over 20 years planted in Mykolaiv more than 20,000 trees and shrubs. The mural was financed by a Mykolaiv entrepreneur whose name has not yet been disclosed to the press, reports the correspondent of Korabelov.info.

“The site for the mural was chosen together with the city’s chief architect. And the idea to paint a mural dedicated to Mr. Vadym Serdtsev was selected through a vote on Facebook at the end of 2025, where other names of well-known Mykolaiv residents were also presented,” – says artist Valeriya Kucher, the sketch’s author.

In the vote, in addition to the candidacy of Vadym Andriyovych Serdtsev (1930 – 2025), the following were also put forward:
Mykola Mykolayovych Arkas (1853 – 1909, Ukrainian composer, writer, historian and cultural figure),
Hlib Valeriyovych Babich (Ukrainian poet, public figure, participant in the Russian-Ukrainian war, killed in 2022),
Oleksiy Dmytrovych Kvasha (Mykolaiv children’s writer, b. 1977, ATO participant, killed in 2015),
Olha Harlan (b. 1990, Mykolaiv native, two-time Olympic champion in sabre fencing).

The voting form also included a column “YOUR OPTION”. Here Mykolaiv residents most often suggested depicting General Marchenko on the mural, but there were also suggestions such as: Vitaliy Kim, Senkevych with a piece of tile, ordinary Mykolaiv residents with jerrycans of water, Mykhailo Faleyev, Serhiy Hussidi, Admiral Greig, Hlib Bibiya, Taras Shevchenko, Kostyantyn Olshanskyi, Oleksiy Vadaturskyi, Ihor Bedzai, Yevhen Loginov, Anna Kurkurina, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, Vitaliy Meshyn and others.

But by a majority of votes the candidate proposed by the organizers of the vote, Vadym Serdtsev, was chosen.

“I’ve been painting my whole life), and my first mural was painted in 2017, opposite the tram stop ‘Zoo’.

At the moment we’ve been working for several days on the mural depicting Vadym Serdtsev together with my colleague Dmytro Voloshyn, we expect to finish this week,” – says Valeriya Kucher.

Reminder, we wrote:

• Vadym Serdtsev. A living legend of the Korabelnyi district
• A TV show fulfilled the dream of the retiree from Korabelnyi – Vadym Serdtsev, who planted 20,000 trees. Video
• The title “Honorary Citizen” was awarded to the “phenomenal grandpa” from the Korabelnyi district, Serdtsev
• “Who else, if not Serdtsev, deserved a namesake square?” – Mykolaiv residents were urged to vote for budget projects
• Back in action: 93-year-old retiree-legend in Korabelnyi continued his greening work

Also read:

• In September 2025, at the age of 96, the legendary greening activist from the Korabelnyi district — Vadym Serdtsev — passed away
• Serdtsev’s funeral without authorities: Mykolaiv lost a legend, and the city council lost its conscience
• “The price of indifference”: the mayor’s office justifies why it ignored the funeral of Honorary Citizen Serdtsev
• Ignoring Serdtsev’s death: the mayor lied and shifted the blame onto the media