A Ukrainian service member reportedly sacrificed his life to detonate explosives on a bridge before Russian forces could cross it into Ukraine.
What are the details?
According to reports, Vitaly Skakun Volodymyrovych blew up the bridge — sacrificing himself — to prevent Russian tanks from advancing over a bridge from Russian-occupied Crimea into mainland Ukraine.
Volodymyrovych was said to have mined the bridge with explosives before making the decision to detonate it.
In a Facebook post, the general staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that Volodymyrovych positioned himself at the bridge as Russian tanks began their advance. When he realized that he would not be able to get out in time, he detonated the bridge while still on it.
In video obtained from social media, a vehicle believe to be driven by Volodymyrovych can be seen entering the bridge. Just moments later, the screen is filled with blinding light from the huge explosion's fireball.
The apparent aftermath of the blast can be seen in a second video, which shows the remainder of the structure rutted with deep cracks and covered with broken rocks and other debris.
What else is there to know about this?
In a lengthy statement on Volodymyrovych's bravery and sacrifice, Ukraine's general staff said, “The bridge was mined, but he didn’t manage to get away from there. 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.”
A Friday report from the Sun noted that his comrades are now hailing him as a hero for "significantly slowing down the advancement of the enemy" — a move that also afforded the Ukrainian force time to "regroup and redeploy its defenses."
The statement added that the Marine Command plans to "apply to the High Command to award the state award to sailor Skakun Vitaliy Volodymyrovych.”
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