‘He loved Ukraine the most’: Mourners lay soldiers to rest

STORY: Oleh Barna, who served as a lawmaker between 2014 and 2019, was killed while performing a military assault on April 17. He would have turned 56 on April 18.

Valerii Dorokhov, 31-year-old unit commander, was also killed.

Friends, relatives and fellow service members laid flowers on the men's open coffins during a service at St. Michael’s Cathedral in capital Kyiv and then at Independence Square.

Speaking to a crowd, Valerii's mother, Tetiana, recalled how "he used to say that he loves all of us, but that he loves Ukraine the most. Those were not just words, but deeds.”

Former Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko was also in attendance and warned the country's survival was being tested.