(ANSA) - ROME, MARCH 10 - His image - cigarette in mouth - as he pronounces 'Glory to Ukraine' shortly before being killed by machine guns has gone around the world.
Now, however, it is necessary to give a name to what has become one of the 'heroes' of the Ukrainian resistance in the conflict with Russia.
As the Guardian reports, there are still doubts about the identity of the soldier killed near Bakhmut and captured in a video that has gone viral.
According to some, it is Tymofiy Shadura, 41, a soldier of the 30th separate mechanized brigade, born in LiubarRaion and raised in the village of Mala Derevychka, in the Zhytomyr oblast, a farmer by profession: he disappeared on 3 February near Bakhmut.
Some of his relatives said they recognized him in the gruesome images of the execution.
According to some Ukrainian media and bloggers, however, the hero is Oleksandr Igorevich Matsievskyi, 42, an electrician by profession, who disappeared on December 30 while fighting on the outskirts of Soledar.
In the last photos he had a plaster on his right eyebrow just like the man killed in the video.
Unlike Shadura, Matsievskyi's body was returned by the Russians and is buried in the Nizhyn cemetery, northeast of Kiev, where many citizens paid their respects.
Again he was recognized in the pictures by close relatives and members of his combat unit.
The outcome of the investigation initiated by the general staff of the Ukrainian armed forces is now awaited to resolve the matter, but it could take several weeks.
(HANDLE).