Despite heavy rain pouring down on Kyiv on Oct. 17, nearly 50 people gathered on Independence Square to pay their last respects to Mykola Mykytenko, a 49-year-old war veteran, who had immolated himself nearly a week ago in Kyiv.
The funeral ceremony took place at the setting of Mykytenko’s suicide.
According to his daughter, serviceperson Yulia Mykytenko, the veteran’s act was made in protest against President Volodymyr Zelensky’s strategy for reaching peace in the war-torn Donbas.
Yulia Mykytenko told public broadcaster Suspilne that her father disapproved of the current government’s actions, namely “the withdrawal of troops on the line of demarcation and the creeping Russian occupation.”
The veteran was hospitalized in a critical condition with 90% of his body damaged by flames. He died three days later.
The current ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia has been in force since July 27. The agreement bans all offensive and reconnaissance operations. But the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has detected hundreds of ceasefire violations by Russian-backed militants. There has also been one combat-related casualty.
