The first Lithuanian soldier, fighting on the Ukrainian side against the Russian invasion, was killed on Friday when a Russian drone hit a moving car.
Sigitas Maliauskas, head of the instructor mission Gyvačių Sala (Snake Island), confirmed the death of the Lithuanian soldier. According to him, the deceased is 43-year-old Tadas Tumas. The man reportedly had a wife and two children in Lithuania.
“This information has reached the Lithuanian Embassy in Kyiv and us. The initial information is that he was killed near Bakhmut, but no other circumstances are given,” Lithuanian Defence Minister Arvydas Anušauskas told LRT RADIO.
The Lithuanian soldier served in the 92nd Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. According to Maliauskas, Tumas has been volunteering for just over three months.
“He was a mortar gunner by profession. But as it is often the case in combat operations, he performed various duties,” he told LRT RADIO.
Tumas and another soldier, who also died in the Russian drone attack, were carrying mines to the front lines near Bakhmut, Maliauskas said.
Previously, several Lithuanian soldiers have been reported injured in combat in Ukraine.
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