Thousands of people, including the president of Ukraine, said goodbye today in Kiev to “Da Vinci”, a war hero who was killed by the Russians in the battle for Bakhmut, the “hottest” point of the front in eastern Ukraine.

Volodymyr Zelenskiy and Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin also made a surprise appearance at Independence Square in the center of the capital to honor Dmytro “Da Vinci” Kociubailo, a 27-year-old volunteer who commanded the Da Vinci Wolves ».

Kochiubailo took up arms in 2014 to fight pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.

President Zelensky announced his death on Tuesday.

Dmytro “Da Vinci” Kochiubailo was the youngest fighter to be honored by Zelensky, in December 2021, with the Order of Hero of Ukraine, the country’s highest honor.

Present in the square, the chief of the army general staff, Valery Zaluzny, knelt near the coffin. “The road to our victory is very difficult. And the price of victory is the lives of our warriors, the best Ukrainian citizens who defended the country with weapons in hand. Be assured that we will not limit ourselves to just avenging (your death), we will surely win. Rest in peace, my friend,” Zaluzny said.

Many people, holding flowers and Ukrainian flags, went down to Maidan Square. Some were crying as they passed the open coffin. “We feel immense pain and sadness for our young men who are dying,” said Liudmila, a pensioner holding a bouquet of tulips. “I didn’t know him personally but I respect what he did for the country. I am proud to belong to a country with citizens like him,” said Valentin Demenyuk, a law student.

Father and son killed in Bahamut

Earlier today, hundreds of people paid tribute to a father and his son who were killed in the Battle of Bahamut. Oleg Khomiuk, 52, and Mikita, 25, volunteered after the Russian invasion in February 2022. They were killed together on March 2, in the same trench.

During a shelling, the father tried to shield his son with his body, but a shell exploded too close to their heads, killing them both, said a relative, Yuri Samson.

Next to the coffins, wreaths with the inscription “Heroes never die”.

The Hormiuks joined the civil defense service to defend Kiev and then fought in Kherson, Kharkiv and Donbass.

Ukraine has not announced its losses since the beginning of the war. Erik Kristoffersen, the chief of the Norwegian army general staff, said in January that based on his own estimates, 180,000 men had been killed or wounded on the part of the Russian army and “probably more than 100,000” Ukrainians.

To this tally should be added 30,000 civilians who have lost their lives in the last year.