"It hurts to lose our heroes, brave and strong. We will never forget it. And we will always be grateful. May his memory be eternal!" This is the memory of the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, who this morning took part in the funeral of Dmytro Kotsiubailo, the 27-year-old soldier who died in battle on March 7 near Bakhmut, who had now become known as commander "Da Vinci". Kotsiubailo had won the affection of the public for dedicating his entire adult life to fighting Russia. "I gave Oksana Kotsiubailo, Da Vinci's mother, the Cross of Military Merit that her son received posthumously," Zelensky added.
The funeral service took place in St. Michael's Cathedral in Kiev in the presence of several hundred people including Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Valery Zaluzhnyi, Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov and Chief of Military Intelligence Kyrylo Budanov.
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Funeral of fallen Ukrainian hero Dmytro Kotsyubailo known as "Da Vinci"
Kotsiubailo was in charge of the battalion called "Da Vinci Wolves" as part of the 67th Mechanized Brigade and had been at the front since the beginning of the Russian-Ukrainian War. Already in 2014, Ukrainian media recall, he was seriously injured by a tank bullet in Pisky, Donetsk region, Donbass. After his recovery, he returned to the front. President Zelensky had awarded him the title of "Hero of Ukraine" by presidential decree of November 30, 2021.
Kotsiubailo was also linked to the right-wing Right Sector movement, one of several Ukrainian nationalist groups that are, according to some critics, steeped in violence and radicalism, which has helped Russian media portray them as "neo-Nazis" who would threaten Russian speakers living in Ukraine.
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Funeral of fallen Ukrainian hero Dmytro Kotsyubailo known as "Da Vinci"