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One of Ukraine’s Right Sector militant group leaders killed near Artyomovsk — president

Dmitry Kotsyubailo, nom de guerre Da Vinci, was one of the extremist group’s leaders, according to Ukraine’s Strana news portal

MOSCOW, March 7. /TASS/. A senior member of Ukraine’s Right Sector militant group (outlawed in Russia), awarded with the Hero of Ukraine title in 2021, has been killed in battles near the city of Artyomovsk, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said on Tuesday.

Dmitry Kotsyubailo, nom de guerre Da Vinci, was one of the extremist group’s leaders, according to Ukraine’s Strana news portal.

"Today, ‘Da Vinci,’ the hero of Ukraine, was killed in battle," Zelensky said in his evening video address to the nation, published on his official Telegram channel. "He was killed in battle near Bakhmut [the Ukrainian name for Artyomovsk]."

Zelensky personally bestowed the Hero of Ukraine title on Kotsyubailo in 2021. According to the Ukrainian leader, the militant joined the Kiev government’s punitive operation in Donbass back in 2014, shortly after the conflict broke out. Strana reported that Kotsyubailo joined paramilitary groups participating in east Ukraine hostilities at the age of 18.

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