Thousands of people, including Ukraine’s president, paid their respects in Kyiv on Friday to “Da Vinci,” a war hero killed by the Russians during the Battle of Pakmud, a hot spot in eastern Ukraine.
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President Volodymyr Zelensky and Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin made a surprise appearance at the event on Freedom Square in the heart of the capital.
AFP
Dmytro “Da Vinci” Kotsiubailo is a 27-year-old volunteer who leads a battalion known as the Da Vinci Wolves.
He took up arms in 2014 against Moscow-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine.
AFP
President Zelensky announced his death in a video message on Tuesday.
For his feats in arms, Dmytro “Da Vinci” Kotsyubylo is the youngest fighter to receive the country’s highest honor, the Hero of Ukraine Medal, from President Zelensky in December 2021.
“The Hard Road to Success”
On the spot, Valery Zalushny, the leader of the troops, knelt next to the coffin.
AFP
“Our road to success was very difficult. “And the price of this victory is the lives of our soldiers, the best citizens of Ukraine who took up arms and defended the country,” he said.
“You must be sure that we will not be satisfied with merely avenging you. We will definitely win. Rest in peace my friend,” the army chief added.
AFP
People dressed in mourning, carrying flowers and waving Ukrainian flags, marched down the hill to the iconic Maidan Square. Many people wept as they passed his open coffin.
“We feel great sadness. It’s sad and painful that our young people like him are dying,” retired Lyudmyla said, carrying a bouquet of tulips.
AFP
“I don’t know him personally, but I respect him a lot for what he has done for his country. I am proud to belong to a country with citizens like him,” said Valentin Demenyuk, a law student wearing a scarf in the colors of Ukraine’s yellow and blue flag.
– Father and son killed in Bagmouth –
Earlier, hundreds of people paid their last respects to a father and his son who were killed during the Battle of Baghmoud.
Oleg Khomiouk, 52, and his son Mykyta, 25, volunteered to fight at the start of the Russian invasion in February 2022. Both died in the same trench on March 2, their families said.
AFP
During the bombing, the father wanted to cover his son with his body, but a shell exploded near their heads, killing both men, said family member Yuri Samson in uniform during the ceremony. Camouflage, wiping his eyes and his speech.
Next to it, baskets of roses and carnations were placed, decorated with ribbons reading “To my beloved grandson” and “To my dear son Oleg, from mother.”
AFP
Wreaths of crossed flowers with the inscription “Warriors are not dead” were placed nearby.
A soldier played a low tune from his trumpet and another beat a drum as the coffins were carried by the soldiers.
Khomyuks joined regional security to defend Kyiv, then fought in Kherson (south) and Kharkiv (northeast) regions before the end of Donbass (east).
AFP
Ukraine has not disclosed its human losses since the start of the Russian invasion.
According to the latest Western estimate, Norway’s chief of staff, Erik Kristoffersen, said in January that the war in Ukraine had left nearly 180,000 dead or wounded in the Russian army and “more than 100,000 dead and wounded” in the Ukrainian army. In it he killed 30,000 civilians.
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