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The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky

Volodymyr Zelensky is a Ukrainian artist, screenwriter, producer and politician. Volodymyr (sometimes) today paid tribute to Dmytro Kotsyubailo, a famous Ukrainian commander known by the nickname Da Vinci, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.

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The commander won the sympathy of his compatriots because he had devoted his whole life to the fight against Russia and its proxies, the agency noted.

Da Vinci, who was 27 years old, headed a unit called Da Vinci's Wolves.

He was killed this week in fighting in Bakhmut, in eastern Ukraine.

The casket containing Da Vinci's remains was put on display for veneration at the gold-domed Saint Michael the Archangel Cathedral in Kyiv.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky appeared there

Volodymyr Zelensky is a Ukrainian artist, screenwriter, producer and politician. Volodymyr (sometimes to place flowers in front of the coffin of the famous commander. He was accompanied by the Prime Minister of Finland, Sana Marin, who arrived in Kyiv earlier today.

"It hurts when we lose our heroes. Courageous, brave, strong, loyal to himself and the state," is how Zelensky described Da Vinci.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov and Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Valery Zaluzhny were also present at the ceremony. 

Zelensky said he presented Da Vinci's mother, Oksana Kotsyubailo, with the Military Merit Cross, which he awarded to her son posthumously.

"We will never forget him and we will always be grateful to him," Zelensky said about the commander.

Last year, the Ukrainian president declared Kotsyubailo a "hero of Ukraine", and this happened before the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of that country.

The Ukrainian army continues to defend Bakhmut

Kotsyubailo has played an important role in fighting pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine since the armed conflict began in 2014. Associated with the far-right Right Sector movement, he was one of the leading figures in the country's nationalist groups.

Some of them also took part in the 2014 protests that ousted the then pro-Russian president of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovych.

Critics say the groups' radicalism and history of violence have helped Russian media portray them as neo-Nazis threatening Russian-speaking people in Ukraine, according to Reuters.

Russian President Vladimir Putin justified the invasion of Ukraine by saying that it was the only way to rid Ukraine of neo-Nazis backed by Western allies who want to destroy Russia.

Kiev and the West reject these claims and describe the conflict as a territorial grab that will fail.

In Russia, pro-Kremlin commentators and the head of the Wagner military group Yevgeny Prigozhin celebrated Kotsyubailo's death.

Russian invasion of Ukraine

Volodymyr Zelensky

Bakhmut