The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky posthumously awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine to the engineer of a separate battalion of sailor Vitaliy Skakun, who blew up the Henichesky Automobile Bridge to stop the enemy.
“I decided to posthumously award the title of Hero of Ukraine to Vitaliy Volodymyrovych Skakun, a sapper of the 35th Separate Marine Brigade. At the cost of his own life, he blew up the bridge, “the President of Ukraine said in his video address.
It will be recalled that Vitaliy Skakun blew up the Henichesky Automobile Bridge with him to stop Russian troops.
On February 25, as the Ukrainian people repulsed the Russian occupiers in all directions, one of the most difficult places on the map was the Crimean Isthmus, where the enemy was met by a separate battalion of marines.
To stop the advance of the tank column, it was decided to blow up the Genichesky road bridge. The engineer of a separate battalion, sailor Vitaliy Skakun, undertook this task. The bridge was mined, but he did not have time to leave. According to the brothers, Vitaliy got in touch and said that he was blowing up the bridge. An explosion was heard immediately. Our brother died. His heroic deed significantly slowed the advance of the enemy, which allowed the unit to redeploy and organize the defense.