close
close

Hundreds say goodbye to Ukrainian volunteer medic killed at the front

Nearly 1,000 mourners gathered in central Kyiv on Sunday for a memorial service for a well-known journalist and volunteer paramedic who was killed in action last week.

Photo by Kostiantyn and Vlada Liberov.

Iryna Tsybukh, known as Cheka, was a 25-year-old medic serving in northeastern Ukraine, where Russian forces launched a major ground offensive last month, capturing vast areas and forcing civilians to evacuate.

At her funeral on Sunday at the golden-domed St. Michael’s Monastery, hundreds wore colorful Ukrainian vyshyvankas – embroidered national shirts – and carried Ukrainian flags and flowers.

Photo by Kostiantyn and Vlada Liberov.

Her coffin was also covered with the yellow and blue Ukrainian flag.

As a member of the Hospitaller Volunteer Battalion, Tsybukh saved numerous soldiers’ lives, often risking her own life to evacuate injured soldiers from the front lines.

“She was one of those who not only defended the country but also worked tirelessly to encourage others to join, train and learn how to be effective,” President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last week.

ISW assessment of the Russian offensive, June 2, 2024

Other interesting topics

ISW assessment of the Russian offensive, June 2, 2024

The latest from the Institute for the Study of War.

Photo by Kostiantyn and Vlada Liberov.

Her volunteer battalion said her death was a “loss for the whole of Ukraine.”

Last year, while serving on the front lines in the eastern Donetsk region, she wrote a farewell letter that was to be published in the event of her death.

Photo by Kostiantyn and Vlada Liberov.

“I do not regret my death because I am finally living the life I wanted to live. I will not lie, to feel that indispensable, true freedom I will have to go through more than one more therapy session, fears and tears,” reads the letter published by her brother.

Photo by Kostiantyn and Vlada Liberov.

She added: “Be worthy of the deeds of our heroes, do not be sad, be brave.”