Denys Tkach is remembered by his wife, who washed his bullet-riddled body before burying him in his wedding suit, as a doting father, the love of her life. For those who fought alongside him, Tkach was a kind man and a leader. The history books may record him as the first Ukrainian soldier to be killed as Vladimir Putin’s troops swept into Ukraine on the 24 February.
The 36-year-old staff sergeant died alone shortly after 3.40am on the day of the invasion, more than an hour before Russia’s president announced his “special military operation”, his body shredded by bullets from the silenced weapons of unseen Russian assailants.
