"You seemed immortal!": it became known how the Hero of Ukraine "Da Vinci" died

Today, on the 7th of March, a volunteer of the Right Sector, Hero of Ukraine Dmytro Kotsyubailo was killed at the front in Bakhmut. The 67th Brigade fighter, who had been at war since 2014 and was known by his call sign "Da Vinci", died in front of his comrades.

According to photographer Konstantin Liberov, Kotsyubailo ordered everyone to stay in cover when the shelling began. He wrote about it on his Instagram page.

"It happened in front of our eyes. The shelling. You told us to stay in the shelter. Explosions, many explosions. A minute later, screams: Medic! Medic! Da Vinci! We believed to the last. We prayed to the last. You were the bravest, the most desperate man we've ever known. You seemed immortal. To the end of our days, we will be proud to have known you. Heroes do not die," Liberov said.

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He also said that two days before the tragedy, Kotsiubailo drove a tank into an enemy position and then led his comrades in an assault.

"The next day, with your bare hands and one bottle of water, you put out a tank with a full ammunition load that had caught fire, while everyone was afraid to even approach it. A hero of Ukraine. The best of the best. A warrior. A friend. A legend," the photographer added.

Kotsiubailo was 27 years old. The junior lieutenant led a separate mechanised battalion, the Da Vinci Wolves, as part of the 67th Separate Mechanised Brigade.

The soldier went to the front at the beginning of the Russian armed aggression and occupation of part of Donbas, but in 2014 he was seriously wounded by a tank shell in Pisky, Donetsk region.

After recovering, he returned to the front after three months of rehabilitation, where he continued to defend the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine.

By President Zelensky's decree of 30 November 2021, Kotsiubailo was awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine.

Earlier, the Armed Forces of Ukraine named the Ukrainian defender who was shot by Russian criminals and filmed it. Before his death, the hero proudly proclaimed "Glory to Ukraine!".

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