LVIV, Ukraine – Artemiy Dymyd’s closest friends unwrapped his parachute and spread it gently over his grave. The red, silky material tightened its coffin as it descended. The men, many soldiers themselves, covered the freshly dug hole with soil. The first shovels landed with a thud. The funeral of Mr. Dymyd, a Marine killed in battle, was the first funeral of the day in Lviv, a western Ukrainian city, where residents have seen a relentless flow of their sons killed in the war with Russia. By the end of Tuesday, three more freshly dug graves near Mr Dymyd will also be filled with young soldiers killed in the battle for the east of the country, hundreds of miles away. The funeral had begun in a Greek Catholic church, an Eastern branch of Catholicism that is widespread in Lviv. Mr. Dymyd’s father, a priest, delivered his eulogy. And then his mother, in her voice full of emotion, sang one last lullaby for her son. The procession then made a well-known journey from the church to the city’s main square, where dozens of young people in scout uniforms formed an honor guard. Mr. Dymyd, 27, has been a member of the Ukrainian Scouts since he was 7 years old. Young children, teenagers and adults from the group were there to say their last goodbyes. At the bottom of the square, four white placards announced the details of the military funerals to be held in the city on Tuesday, all for men killed in the battle for the east of the country in recent weeks. Three of them never reached their 30th birthday. Passengers on a tram in central Lviv, Ukraine, watched in silence as Artemiy Dymyd’s funeral procession made its way to Lychakiv Cemetery. Credit … Emile Ducke for the New York Times A young woman, wearing the typical green scout handkerchief, closed her eyes, took short breaths and clenched her fists to hold back her tears as she participated in the slow procession for Mr. Dymyd. Scouting was only a part of his life. Mr. Dymyd also loved travel and adventure, and extreme sports such as parachuting. His nickname was Kurka, which means chicken. Friends said Metallica’s music would be more appropriate for his funeral than the military obituaries now played daily in Lviv’s Lysakiev Cemetery. “He is one of the most dignified men I have ever met,” said Dmytro Paschuk, 26. “He lived many lives at the age of 27. “People are writing books about characters like him, and maybe there will be books soon.” Mr Paschuk, who ran a wine bar before the war, served on Mr Dymyd’s side in a Ukrainian Marine Special Operations Unit. They had become like brothers in recent months, he said. The night of the attack, which ended his friend’s life, Mr Paschuk said, he woke up to the sound of an explosion and soon realized something was wrong. He immediately looked for Mr. Dymd and saw that another friend was giving him first aid. When he saw Mr. Dymyd’s eyes, he knew it was bad. “I was afraid to be next to him,” he said slowly. “Because when I saw him I felt he would not make it.” Mr. Dymyd died shortly afterwards. Mr Paschuk said he had mixed feelings about returning to the front line in a few days. He described waves of emotions, but said he was not angry or vindictive. “I do not feel I want to kill everyone because that’s what happened,” Paschuk said. “I thank Kurka. “It taught me to stay calm.” Roman Lozynskyi, a Marine, had been a friend of Mr. Dymyd for two decades, having met him as a young scout. Mr Lozynskyi, a member of the Ukrainian parliament, volunteered for the army three months ago and served in the same unit as Mr Dymyd and Mr Paschuk. He described his lifelong friend as a “madman” with a desire for life who had returned to Ukraine from a parachute trip to Brazil to enlist when the war broke out. Mr Dymyd wanted to continue parachuting during the war and finally had the opportunity last month as part of a mission, his friends said. It was Mr Dymyd’s brother, Dmytro Dymyd, who thought of placing the parachute in his grave, Mr Lozynskyi said in a nod to Mr Dymyd’s passion for the sport of parachuting. The brother, who is also a soldier, was allowed to attend the funeral, but would return to the Donetsk region in a few days. As the mourners started slowly from the cemetery, the gravediggers threw the earth on Mr. Dymyd’s grave on a solid mound. There are three more left. Young men and women wearing Scout uniforms mourned Mr. Dymyd, who has been a member of the Ukrainian Scout Organization since he was 7 years old. Credit … Emile Ducke for the New York Times
