Ukrainian soldier from Nieuwsuur report dies in Bachmoet

Jan Eikelboom

news reporter

Jan Eikelboom

news reporter

Dima, a Ukrainian soldier who was recently portrayed in a Nieuwsuur report, died yesterday in the battle for Bachmoet. This has been announced by Arno Kleijbroek of the Dutch-Ukrainian aid organization De Leeuw Kyiv. He was well known to the fallen soldier.

Dima, or ‘Panama’ as his battle name was, was a commander in the 93rd Brigade, which has been fighting the Ukrainian separatists and the Russians since 2014. In recent months, the unit has been deployed at Bachmoet and Soledar.

Nieuwsuur spoke to him just before he would return to the front with his unit after a short period of leave. He then spoke candidly about his fears: “I’m very scared. Terrified. But if we don’t fight there will be no more Ukraine.”

In Bachmoet, Dima narrowly escaped death last week, says Arno Kleijbroek: “Their position was surrounded and they were only able to throw back a Russian grenade that had landed in their enclosure just in time”. Subsequently, Dima and his men managed to fight their way out of the encirclement. Yesterday a mine killed him.

Dima turned 45 years old. He leaves behind a wife and two children.

Below you can see the Nieuwsuur report in which Dima appears:

Testimonies from the trenches

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