Zelenskyy and top military leaders bid farewell to Dmytro "Da Vinci" Kotsiubailo
The farewell ceremony for Dmytro "Da Vinci" Kotsiubailo, the fallen Hero of Ukraine, has been attended by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksii Reznikov, Minister of Defence of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov, Head of Ukrainian Defence Intelligence, and Sanna Marin, Prime Minister of Finland, who is on a visit to Kyiv.
Source: Suspilne media outlet
Details: The memorial service was held in the St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery. Several hundred people came to the monastery, including Zelenskyy and Sanna Marin.
Then the coffin with the warrior's body was taken to Maidan Nezalezhnosti (the central square in Kyiv – ed.) where the ceremony continued.
Update: Suspilne reported that Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Oleksii Reznikov, Minister of Defence, and Kyrylo Budanov, Head of Defence Intelligence, also attended the ceremony on Maidan Nezalezhnosti.
Попрощатися з "Да Вінчі" прийшли Зеленський, Залужний, Резніков та Буданов pic.twitter.com/4QrkJwOBzZ
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Zelenskyy said that he had handed Oksana Kotsiubailo, Da Vinci's mother, the Cross of Military Merit medal, which was posthumously awarded to her son.
Background:
- Dmytro Kotsiubailo, a 27-year old volunteer soldier of the Right Sector Ukrainian Volunteer Corps and the Hero of Ukraine, known as "Da Vinci", died near the city of Bakhmut in Donetsk Oblast on 7 March.
- It was revealed that the memorial service in honour of Kotsiubailo would be held on 9 March.
Note: Kotsiubailo led a separate mechanised battalion called The Da Vinci Wolves, which was a part of the 67th Separate Mechanised Brigade.
He had been on the front since the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian war. In 2014, he was injured by a tank shell in the settlement of Pisky in Donetsk Oblast. After three months of rehabilitation, he returned to the front, where he continued to fight for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.
By the decree of the president of Ukraine, issued on 30 November 2021, Kotsiubailo was awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine.
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