In Lviv’s ancient Lychakiv cemetery, a blanket of snow is building up on a mountain of flowers piled high on a fresh grave.
Yury Verbitsky, a 50-year-old local man, was laid to rest in the western Ukrainian city’s field of heroes on Friday. But a handful of mourners still stand silently by his graveside, heads bare, crossing themselves as they pay their respects.
Unlike his neighbours in the necropolis, Mr Verbitsky was not a soldier, national poet, or giant of scientific achievement. But many in this city see him as no less of a hero.
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