The story of Vitaliy Skakun, a sapper from the engineering and sapper unit of the 137th separate battalion of the Ukrainian Marines, is widely known: On Feb. 24, 2022, he died while blowing up the Henichesk-Arbatskaya Strelka road bridge, which slowed the enemy’s advance in southern Ukraine.
On Feb. 26, 2022, he was awarded the title of Hero of Ukraine and the Order of the Golden Star.
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A bridge in Prague was named in his honor, a postage stamp was issued in Ukraine, and streets were named after him in Kyiv, Mukachevo, and Berezhany, where Skakun was born. He was also awarded the title of honorary citizen in Berezhany and the Polish city of Leszno, where he had worked as a welder for some time.
However, for some reason, there is no mention on the restored Hostomel Bridge that it was blown up and that people died in the process to protect the capital from Russian occupiers.
Two sappers – 22-year-old commander of the engineering and sapper platoon of the 70th separate regiment of the Support Forces Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces (AFU), Sr. Lt. Zakhar Kvasny (August 13, 1999–February 25, 2022), and 37-year-old Jr. Sgt. Roman Shymansky (June 12, 1984–February 25, 2022) – who died completing this task, received only posthumous Orders of Merit III degree, and almost no one knows about their feat...
At Kyiv Post, we will try to correct the record.
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Destruction of the Hostomel bridge – why it was necessary
When Lt. Gen. Anatoliy Bargilevich arrived northwest of the capital on the evening of Feb. 24, 2022, to assess the situation, he realized that he had very few personnel to hold back the enemy. Only the demolition of the bridge could stop the enemy columns that were advancing en masse on the capital.
In one interview, Bargilevich noted:
“The enemy’s passage across the bridge would mean that they would enter the forest area in front of Kyiv and practically jeopardize the defense of Kyiv as a whole, violating the integrity of the defense.”
Bargilevich called the commander of the Kyiv Land Defense Forces, Oleksandr Syrsky, described the situation, and requested explosives to blow up the bridge. A truck with explosives was allocated for the operation.
On the morning of Feb. 25, a column of Russian military combat vehicles heading for Kyiv was stopped on the Hostomel Bridge by soldiers from the engineering and sapper platoon of the AFU’s 70th Separate Regiment.
The then-commander of the unit, Oleksandr Dubchak, recounts the details of this military operation:
“There was an order to advance to the Hostomel Bridge and destroy it in order to prevent the enemy from advancing further towards Kyiv. They were already in the area of Hostomel Airport. We completed this task. Several more of our columns left from there. That is, there were no longer any of our troops on the Hostomel side – the enemy was there. We destroyed the bridge and the enemy convoy that was already moving towards Kyiv, but they could not advance beyond these lines…
”Here lies the greatest merit of the guys who died.”
Dubchak explains:
“It was the commander, a young lieutenant named Zakhar Kvasny. Less than a year had passed since he graduated from the Academy. He was solely responsible for this operation. It had to be organized – how much, what, where to place it, set up a network, and do everything flawlessly. Because we would not have a second chance to redo anything. The bridge had to be destroyed in one go. He was able to organize all of this. It was his first combat mission. The most serious combat mission. If we hadn’t carried it out, they would have broken through to Kyiv.”
“He organized everything and evacuated people to a safe place.”
Dubchak continues his narrative:
“A hero – what else can I say? Roman Shymansky had extensive combat experience from the ATO [Anti-Terrorist Operation – launched by the Ukrainian government in April 2014] and had completed numerous combat missions. His task was to press the button to blow up the bridge. In other words, he was entrusted with the most responsible moment. He was a man who had been through a lot. A hero.
“We will remember these guys. Why did it happen that these two died? It wasn’t supposed to be that way, but when everything is ready for the explosion, there are two people left: the commander and one other person. Accordingly, the commander, Lt. Zakhar, remained, and Roman remained as one of the most experienced sappers. And it was voluntary.
“Zakhar asked, ‘Who’s staying?’
“Roman replied, ‘I’m staying!’ There were no questions at all.
“And they died, but the bridge was blown up. The column was split in two, and the Russians were destroyed. During the retreat, the guys fought their way out, and that’s how they died.”
Petitions created in 2023 to award them the titles of Heroes of Ukraine received over 25,000 votes. The electronic petition regarding Kvasny states:
“On February 25, 2022, a group led by Sr. Lt. Zakhar Andriyovych Kvasny was sent to the outskirts of Kyiv to carry out a combat mission – to destroy a bridge in the Horenka area in order to cut off the route by which the enemy planned to enter the city of Kyiv. Sr. Lt. Zakhar Kvasny took responsibility and made a personal sacrifice, completing the combat mission by blowing up the bridge at the cost of his own life.
“During the demolition of the bridge, a fierce battle with the invading forces ensued and Sr. Lt. Kvasny did not return to the designated meeting point. After a protracted battle, the Russian troops were forced to retreat with heavy losses, never entering the city of Kyiv. Contact with Zakhar was lost on February 25, 2022. To this day, his whereabouts after completing the mission remain unknown.”
In November 2023, the official website of the President of Ukraine stated the reasons for refusing to award the title of Hero of Ukraine to both sappers:
“Based on the results of a comprehensive review... an expert group reviewing the relevant materials determined that, based on the recommendation of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, his merits in defending the state sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine were recognized with a state award of Ukraine – the Order ‘For Courage’ III degree, which... was awarded by Decree of the President of Ukraine (posthumously).”
Zakhar Kvasny’s mother, Zhanna Gozha, said during a memorial event at the War Museum on November 7, 2025, “The Wounds of Bucha Land”:
“Like every mother, I dreamed that my children would be alive, that they would work and have their own families. But there was no war in my dreams... It is very scary when mothers now live with the hope that their son is alive, that he is in captivity. Believe me, I also feel that my son is somewhere... I can never come to terms with this loss! (...)
“We were on that bridge. This is the second time. Thank God, it has been rebuilt. There is not even a hint that it was blown up... We laid flowers, and a man comes up and says, ‘What happened, why are you laying flowers?’ He doesn’t know what happened. How long has it been?!”
Roman Shymansky’s mother, Lyudmila Gumenyuk, added:
“We wrote a petition. We wrote it a long time ago. Roma left behind a wife and two sons. And we want their father to be a Hero of Ukraine. They really deserve this title!”
“Heroii ne vmyraiut!” “Heroes never die!” The words of this famous song have long become a slogan. We, the journalists of the Kyiv Post, hope the memory of all those who gave their lives for our freedom will live on. And the soldiers who gave their lives in the early days of the full-scale invasion undoubtedly deserve to be remembered in Ukraine and all over the world.
The Original article in Ukrainian was posted Dec. 30, 2025: You can read it here.
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