Farewell to legendary Da Vinci in Kyiv: photo report

On March 10 Ukrainians bid their farewell to the fallen hero of Ukraine Dmytro Kotsiubailo with the call sign "Da Vinci". Thousands of people attended the funeral ceremony, as well as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, and the Head of Chief Intelligence Kyrylo Budanov. The soldier was seen off on his knees.

Zelensky presented the mother of Da Vinci Oksana Kotsiubailo with the Cross of Combat Merit, which was posthumously awarded to her son.
The farewell ceremony began at 12 o'clock. The memory of the Ukrainian soldier, a fighter of the 67th separate mechanized brigade, who died on Tuesday, March 7, in the battle near Bakhmut, was commemorated in St. Michael's Cathedral, and then on Independence Square. The hero is buried in Kyiv.

RUBRYKA publishes photos from the ceremony.

The first farewell ceremony occurred on March 9 in his hometown, Bovshev village of the western Ivano-Frankivsk region.

27-year-old Dmytro Kotsiubailo fought against russian invaders since 2014. He was a junior lieutenant and head of the separate mechanized battalion Da Vinci Wolves as part of the 67th separate mechanized brigade.

His fight for Ukraine started when he was only 18. The warrior started this journey after the Revolution of Dignity. His dream was to become an artist before russia's invasion.

In 2014, he was seriously wounded by a tank shell in Pisky, the Donetsk region. After three months of rehabilitation, he returned to the frontline, where he continued to defend the sovereignty of Ukraine.

In 2021, he was awarded the highest state award – the Golden Star and the title of Hero of Ukraine. Before the full-scale war, Kotsiubailo was the commander of the 1st assault company of the "Right Sector" volunteer corps.