As Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine, a Ukrainian soldier sacrificed his life to stop the Russian tanks from marching ahead, the Ukrainian Army said on Friday.
According to the reports, Marine battalion engineer Vitaly Skakun Volodymyrovych blew himself up to destroy a bridge in the southern province of Kherson to stop the Russian tanks from marching ahead.
The sacrifice made by Vitaly Skakun Volodymyrovych to stop Russian tanks is now being hailed across the country, who has described the Ukrainian soldier Volodymyrovych as a hero.
As per the Ukrainian military, Volodymyrovych was deployed to the Henichesk bridge in the southern province of Kherson. As the Ukrainian troops saw Russian tanks marching ahead, they decided that the only way to stop the Russian advances would be to demolish the bridge.
Accordingly, Volodymyrovych volunteered to do the needful, the General Staff of the Armed Forces said in a statement.
Volodymyrovych went to neutralise the bridge but soon realised that he may not be able to get back to safety. Therefore, the brave soldier made the ultimate sacrifice on the bridge. His act of bravery stopped the Russian forces from advancing towards Ukraine.
“The bridge was mined, but he didn’t manage to get away from there,” said the General Staff of the Armed Forces.
“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 Ukrainian military said in a statement on Facebook.
Following the demolition of the bridge, the Russian armoured column had to take a longer route, thereby giving the Ukrainian military more time to respond.
The Ukrainian military paid their respects to the soldier in a statement, saying, “On this difficult day for our country, when the Ukrainian people give away to the Russian occupiers in all directions, one of the hardest places on the map of Ukraine was the Crimean intersection, where one of the first enemies met a separate marine battalion. In order to stop the promotion of the tank column, a decision was made to overthrow the Geniche Car Bridge”.
The Ukrainian army said that the heroic act significantly slowed down the push of the enemy, allowing the unit to relocate and organize the defence.
The statement concluded, “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”.
The military said that Vitaly Skakun Volodymyrovych would be given a state award posthumously for his bravery.
Since Russia announced that they would be launching “special military operations” in Ukraine, more than 130 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed, according to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
