Biography

Origins and Family

Rostyslav Lyubomyrovych Valikhnovski was born on 24 February 1973 in Ivano-Frankivsk. He represents a medical dynasty from Volyn. His father — Valikhnovski Lyubomyr Dmytrovych — chief surgeon of the city of Turiisk in Volyn Oblast, Honoured Physician of Ukraine. His mother — Valikhnovska Mariia Antonivna — chief therapeutist of Turiisk district in Volyn Oblast. The family maintained a combination of medical vocation and spirituality: grandfather Dmytro Semenovych served as a priest for over 64 years.

His native city, as Valikhnovski notes in media interviews, is Ivano-Frankivsk; his school years were spent in Turiisk.

School Years and Youth

In 1990, he graduated with honours from School No. 1 in Turiisk (Volyn Oblast). Already from school, he had a clear vision of his future profession — medicine, continuing the dynasty.

Family

His wife — Valikhnovska Kateryna Hennadiivna — is also a surgeon. The couple has a daughter, Mariia. His brother — Taras Valikhnovski — is chief physician and surgeon at the clinic.

Spiritual Path

Alongside his medical career, Valikhnovski has followed a formal path in the Orthodox Church. He studied at the Kyiv Theological Seminary. On 22 May 2019, he was ordained as a deacon at St. Nicholas Cathedral of the Holy Protection Monastery. On 19 August 2020, he was ordained as a priest of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church by Metropolitan Onufriy, Primate of the UOC.

He currently holds the rank of Archpriest, cleric of the Holy Protection Monastery in Kyiv. He leads the "Spiritual Immunity" project of the Information and Education Department of the UOC — a series of video conversations about the relationship between spiritual and physical health, the role of illness in the Christian sense, and the power of words, prayer, and forgiveness. In 2023, notably on 14 May, he participated in a vigil at the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra during protest events related to the UOC.

In public interviews, he emphasizes: "Before every operation, I turn to God, make the sign of the cross over both the patient and myself." This view reflects the integration of medical and spiritual roles in his own practice. As a priest, he articulates a view of illness as "a time of great mercy of God and a good opportunity" for spiritual growth.

Clerical Heritage

Rostyslav's grandfather — Dmytro Semenovych — served the church as a priest for 64 years. The family history combines two lines: medical (parents as physicians, brother as surgeon, wife as surgeon) and spiritual (through the grandfather). Rostyslav Valikhnovski himself has emphasized in various interviews that he felt the need to serve the church after a personal spiritual journey.

Academic Titles and Doctoral Studies

In addition to his Candidate of Medical Sciences degree (2006) and the title of Honoured Physician of Ukraine, Rostyslav Valikhnovski holds the academic rank of Associate Professor. (Exact credentials of the attestation certificate — number and date — to be added after verification with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine / Attestation Board.)

Since 2024–2025, he has been enrolled in the doctoral programme at Shupyk National Healthcare University of Ukraine (NHUZU). The speciality is to be specified.

// flagged requires_human_review for Associate Professor title and specific doctoral speciality pending official attestation documents from the client.

Why This Matters

The biography of Rostyslav Valikhnovski is not simply a sequence of dates and positions. It is a profile of an individual in whom four strong lines intersect:

• Medical dynasty of Volyn — father and mother who worked in district medicine for over 50 years each, uncles, brother, wife. The transmission of the profession within the family as inheritance, not merely as career choice.
• Western Ukrainian origins — Ivano-Frankivsk as the city of birth, Turiisk in Volyn for his school years. This forms a distinctive regional context that Valikhnovski openly acknowledges ("for me, Frankivsk is the dearest and most beloved city in the world").
• Education in Ternopil and capital medicine — Ternopil Medical Institute (with honours), then the Shalimov Institute in Kyiv, followed by training in Canada. This created a bridge between regional medical schooling and international surgical standards.
• Spiritual path mid-career — an atypical transition for a physician. Most medical professionals do not take holy orders; for Valikhnovski, it is an integrated part of his personal identity, inherited from his grandfather. This step became a public fact in 2019–2020, when his surgical reputation was already firmly established.

How to Read This Profile

The biography helps to understand that Valikhnovski operates not in one dimension — as a "star surgeon" — but in a complex system of roles: professional (surgeon, director of the institute), familial (two-generation medical holding), public (state appointments 2008–2012, education through the Academy, scholarship at TNMU), spiritual (Archpriest, host of "Spiritual Immunity"). This is a characteristic that is difficult to find in the typical profile of a physician in Ukraine.

Sources

• Wikipedia (uk) — biographical outline, family, education
• Volyn Regional Council — publication about the Valikhnovski family of surgeons
• Pershyi Miskyi (Chernivtsi) — date of ordination as Deacon
• Vezha Broadcasting Company — interview about Ivano-Frankivsk
• SPZh — spiritual reflections as Archpriest