Oleksiy Mykolayovych Arestovych is a blogger, actor, freelance adviser to the head of the Office of the President (OP) on strategic communications in the field of national security and defense.
Place of Birth, Education
He was born on August 3, 1975 in the Georgian city of Dedoplistskaro.
He studied at the Faculty of Biology of the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, but did not complete his higher education – in 1993 he left his studies when he began to play at the Kyiv Theater-Studio “Black Square”.
In 2003, he entered the author’s school “Man Among People” by the Russian psychologist Absalom Pidvodny, which he completed in 2010.
In addition, he studied theology at the St. Thomas Aquinas Institute in Kyiv, and also received military education at the Odessa Institute of Land Forces, where he received a diploma as a military translator.
Career
In the 1990s and 2000s, Arestovych worked as an actor at the Black Square Theater Studio, starred in commercials and played minor roles in Russian and Ukrainian TV series, including “The Return of Mukhtar”, “Don’t Be Afraid, I’m Near” and “Brother for Brother-2”.
In 2007, he became a co-organizer of the film production company “Aegis Artist Group”. And in 2013, he was a presenter and family psychologist in the television project “Teach Us to Live” on ICTV.
Political Activities
In 2005, Arestovych joined the Brotherhood party and served as deputy chairman, which at that time was Dmytro Korchynskyi. He actively opposed the Orange Revolution, in particular, participating in the events of the “International Eurasian Movement” under the leadership of the Russian ideologue Alexander Dugin.
At the beginning of 2009, together with Korchynskyi, he initiated the creation of the civil movement “Away with All”, which aimed to put pressure on the authorities to solve the problems of small and medium-sized businesses and the field of road transportation.
In June, he was appointed deputy head of the Primorsky District Administration in Odesa, but three months later he left the post of his own free will.
After the Revolution of Dignity, Arestovych began to speak in the media as a military-political expert. He regularly gave interviews to national TV channels, radio, print and online publications, and also maintained personal blogs on Facebook and YouTube platforms.
Since 2014, he has participated in the training of combat units within the framework of the People’s Reservist program. He was also the organizer of a charitable foundation, which from 2014 to 2017 provided psychological assistance to military personnel in the ATO zone.
From September 2018 to September 2019, he served in the JFO area near Kramatorsk as part of the 72nd Mechanized Brigade.
On October 28, 2020, the first President of Ukraine, Leonid Kravchuk, appointed Arestovych as an adviser on information policy and official spokesman for the Ukrainian delegation to the Trilateral Contact Group at the talks in Minsk on the settlement of the situation in eastern Ukraine.
In December of the same year, he was appointed a freelance adviser to the head of the Office of the President, Andriy Yermak, on strategic communications in the field of national security and defense.
In January 2022, he announced his dismissal from the posts of freelance adviser to the head of the Office of the President and spokesman of the Ukrainian delegation to the TCG. At the same time, the Office of the President noted that he had not submitted an official letter of resignation and did not rule out the possibility of further cooperation.
After the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022, Arestovych held briefings and summaries on behalf of the Office of the President.
On January 17, 2023, Arestovych submitted a letter of resignation from the post of freelance adviser to the President’s Office, which was later officially approved.
On May 1, 2025, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy enacted the decision of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) to impose sanctions against Arestovych for a period of 10 years. The restrictions included the blocking of assets, trade operations, as well as a ban on the withdrawal of capital abroad and the deprivation of state awards.
Marital Status
Arestovych is married to Anastasia Gribanova, who holds the position of director of development in one of the Ukrainian publishing houses. The couple has two common children – daughter Veronica and son Alexander.
From his first marriage, Arestovych has another daughter – Aelita.
In 2025, as the media wrote, Gribanova filed for divorce.
