Marine battalion engineer Vitaly Skakun Volodymyrovych was deployed to Henichesk bridge in the city of Kherson with a special mission: rig the bridge with mines to stop the advancing Russian tanks. When time ran short, Vitaly made the ultimate sacrifice — he detonated the mines, killing himself in the process.
“On this difficult day for our country, when the Ukrainian people give way to the Russian occupiers in all directions, one of the hardest places on the map of Ukraine was the Crimean intersection,” the General Staff of the Armed Forces said in a Facebook post.
“When the battalion decided that the only way to block the [the advancing tanks] was by blowing up the bridge, Volodymyrovych volunteered to place mines on the span,” the General Staff added.
“When he realized he had no time to get to safety, the brave soldier made the ultimate sacrifice on the bridge, which connected Russian-occupied Crimea and mainland Ukraine.”
“According to his brothers in arms, Vitaly got in touch [with them] and said he was going to blow up the bridge. Immediately after an explosion rang out,” the military said.
“Our brother was killed. His heroic act significantly slowed down the push of the enemy, allowing the unit to relocate and organize the defense,” the statement said.
“Russian invaders, know, under your feet the earth will burn! We will fight as long as we live! And as long as we are alive we will fight!” it added.
Read the full story over at The New York Post:
Heroic Ukrainian soldier blows himself up on bridge to prevent Russian advance https://t.co/OhIYYy0NS0 pic.twitter.com/i69Ws2Ao3X
— New York Post (@nypost) February 25, 2022
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