Former Lithuania theater ballet dancer killed in action defending Ukraine
Ukraine-born Artem Kolbasynskyi, a former ballet dancer with the Klaipeda State Music Theater in Lithuania, who had been defending Ukraine almost from the first days of the full-scale invasion, was killed in action.
This was reported by LRT, Ukrinform saw.
The Klaipeda State Music Theater announced his death Friday evening.
"Unfortunately, not everyone comes back from the war alive..." the statement says.
The news agency said that in the spring of 2022, as soon as Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Artem Kolbasynskyi deployed to defend his homeland. The dancer said he would have lost his dignity had he kept living a quiet life in Klaipeda with his girlfriend.
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"I must return to my country and defend it from invaders. This is my duty both to my Motherland and to the family who live there. But this was a difficult decision, I won’t lie," he said before going to war.
As Ukrinform reported earlier, Robert Deegan, a former member of Ireland's elite military unit – Irish Army Ranger Wing - died in battles with Russian troops in Ukraine.