A brave Ukrainian soldier is now being hailed a hero after making a heartbreaking decision. According to The Sun, Vitaly Skakun Volodymyrovych blew himself up to destroy a bridge to prevent the Russian forces from forcing their way in from Crimea.
Volodymyrovych is now being hailed by generals for stopping a column of Russian tanks at Henichesk, in the southern Kherson region in exchange for his own life. It takes great courage to do what the brave engineer did. He volunteered for the dangerous mission that involved him rigging the bridge with mines, revealed an Armed Forces official.
Apparently, the bridge is a key strategic pinch point that links the annexed Russian-occupied Crimea and mainland Ukraine. “On this difficult day for our country, when the Ukrainian people gave way 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,” read the post shared by WION.
When Volodymyrovych saw the Russian forces race towards him, Volodymyrovych realized that he did not have enough time to set a fuse for the mine and get away before detonating. Thus, he decided to say back and make the ultimate sacrifice in order to block the armored column from attacking his country.
“The bridge was mined, but he didn’t manage to get away from there,” shared 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.”
His fellow comrades have since been hailing him for “significantly slowing down the advance of the enemy.” Moreover, his move enabled the Ukrainian military units to regroup and redeploy their defenses, according to the defense forces. Commanders are now planning to award Volodymyrovych, a Marine battalion engineer, with posthumous honors for his “heroic act.”
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“Russian occupiers, know that the ground will burn under your feet!” said one military officer pointing at Volodymyrovych move. Volodymyrovych move forced Russian tanks and missile launchers to take a longer land route to enter the southern Kherson province. Although they managed to control much of the region by night, the Ukrainian army continued to fight fiercely in the battle that raged in the port of Mariupol and around an airbase at Melitopol.
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Cover image source: YouTube Screenshot | The Sun
