Kyiv bids farewell to Polish volunteer killed in Russian drone strike

A memorial service was held in Kyiv on Friday for Marek Rusek-Wolski, a Polish volunteer who was killed in a Russian drone attack in Kharkiv earlier this week.

The 42-year-old had been a regular visitor to Ukraine since 2023, according to his social media posts, undertaking humanitarian missions to deliver food and medicine to communities near the front lines in the Kharkiv region and the Kupiansk area. He also helped evacuate elderly residents and children from areas under fire.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiha and Poland's Chargé d'Affaires to Ukraine, Piotr Łukasiewicz, attended the service, along with Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk.

"We know what pain is and we share this pain with our Polish friends," Sybiha said. "Today we bid farewell to Mr. Marek, who lost his life while helping Ukraine. May he rest in peace. We will always remember it."

Łukasiewicz described Rusek-Wolski's death as symbolic of the bond between the two nations. "The sacrifice made by Mr. Marek and his family is equally a symbol of our unbreakable bond, our unbreakable alliance," he said.

Mourners laid flowers beside the coffin, which was later carried from the church and placed in a vehicle as the service concluded.