Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky awarded the soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Dmitry Maslovsky, who was stabbed in hand-to-hand combat by Russian corporal Andrey Grigoriev.
“The title of Hero of Ukraine was awarded to senior soldier Dmitry Maslovsky of the 71st separate ranger brigade of airborne assault troops,” Zelensky wrote in a post on his Telegram channel.
WARNING: The video you are about to see is extremely graphic and disturbing. Watch at your own discretion!
The video of the hand-to-hand fight between a Ukrainian and a Russian soldier surfaced on the Internet in early January. The fight took place in the Donetsk People’s Republic. The Ukrainian soldier lost the fight and died.
The Ukrainian calls his comrade with call sign Haza for help, but the latter does not respond. Closer to the end of the fight, the Ukrainian soldier, realizing that his comrade has abandoned him, shouts: “Haza, I hate you!”
The words that the Ukrainian said to the Russian soldier in the end of the video are striking.
“This is it, Mom, goodbye. Wait, please, let me leave peacefully. Let me die. Don’t touch me. Let me die. Just go, please. Thank you. You were the best fighter in the world,” the Ukrainian soldier says in the video.
On January 11, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree awarding the title of Hero of Russia to corporal Andrei Grigoriev, a native of Yakutia Republic.
“For courage and heroism shown in the performance of military duty, the title of Hero of the Russian Federation shall be awarded to corporal Andrei Nikolaevich Grigoriev,” the decree said.
Yakutia Governor meets heroic Russian soldier
The head of Yakutia Aisen Nikolaev met with Andrey Grigoriev. He described the soldier as a very modest young man who does not consider himself a hero. Grigoriev did not share the details of the fight with anyone.
The Russian serviceman from Yakutia got into a knife fight with the Ukrainian fighter during the clearing of the settlement of Trudovoye. The defeated Ukrainian called the Russian the best fighter in the world and asked him to let him leave peacefully. After he was left alone, the Ukrainian fighter detonated a grenade.
