The family of Brazilian Douglas Búrigo, 40, who traveled to Ukraine to join the country’s defense forces against the Russians, was informed this Saturday (2) that he was killed in an attack in the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
Búrigo, who was a soldier in the Brazilian Army for five years and currently owned a rubber shop in the city of São José dos Ausentes, in Rio Grande do Sul, traveled to Poland on May 24, with a ticket he bought himself. From there, he entered the neighboring country, which has been at war since it was invaded by Russia in February this year, and joined the International Legion, a group of foreigners who fight alongside the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
On his Instagram account, the Brazilian posted on May 28 a photo in which he wore a military uniform with the flags of Brazil and Ukraine. Over the image he wrote Slava Ukraine (glory to Ukraine, in the local language).
According to Douglas’ father Pedro Búrigo, he said he would do humanitarian work and spent the first few weeks receiving training in the Ukrainian capital Kiev. “He put a European SIM card in his cell phone and we spoke almost every day. Our last contact was on the 23rd. [de junho] in the morning. He commented that he was going to the front lines in Kharkiv and that he would be without communication because there would be no internet there,” he says.
Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv is in the east, on the border with areas occupied by Russia, and is one of the places most destroyed by the conflict.
Around noon this Saturday, Pedro received a call with the information that his son had been killed in an attack. Douglas’ cousin, state deputy Carlos Búrigo, called the Brazilian embassy in Ukraine to get confirmation.
“They told me that they really received the news that he died. Other Brazilians who were fighting with him called to tell him. But now the Ukrainian government must formalize this information to the embassy”, says the deputy. “It’s unfortunate. It’s been very difficult for the family.”
THE Sheet contacted the Itamaraty, but received no response until the publication of this report.
Pedro says that the son informed the family of his intention to go to Ukraine a month before the trip. “We couldn’t get that out of his mind. As I understood it, he was going to support the bombed, injured civilians. We didn’t expect him to go to the front lines,” says Pedro. “We’re still in shock at the news. I can’t explain it.”
The firstborn of three siblings, Douglas was single and had a 15-year-old daughter. The family still doesn’t know if his body was recovered.
The last post on her Instagram is a video with three photos of her wearing a military uniform, a cap with the Brazilian flag and a gun in her hand. The images are accompanied by music and Douglas’ voice saying: “I’m at a stage in my life where I want to enjoy every moment. Every millisecond of my time. I want to have more stories to tell than to have things to show.” .”
On June 9, Itamaraty confirmed the death of Brazilian André Luis Hack, 43, who also joined the International Legion in Ukraine.
The ministry reaffirmed, at the time, that it “continues to strongly advise against” Brazilians going to the region until the conflict ends.
