Vitaly Skakun Volodymyrovych a HERO Ukrainian soldier blew himself up to destroy a bridge and stop Russian forces from storming in from Crimea.
Generals hailed the sacrifice of Vitaly Skakun Volodymyrovych for halting a column of Russian tanks at Henichesk, in the southern Kherson region.
The brave engineer had volunteered for the dangerous mission to rig the bridge with mines, an Armed Forces official said.
It is a key strategic pinch point linking annexed Russian-occupied Crimea and mainland Ukraine.
As Putin’s forces raced towards him, Vitaliy realised he did not have time to set a fuse and get to safety.
“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.”
Skakun, a military engineer, was hailed by his comrades for “significantly slowing down the advance of the enemy”.
It also allowed Ukrainian military units to regroup and redeploy its defences, defence forces said.
