A Ukrainian war paramedic who was killed by Putin’s forces left a moving letter to her grieving brother just before she died.
In the extraordinary posthumous letter, 25-year-old Iryna Tsybukh wrote: “For only the brave have happiness, and it is better to die running than to live rotting.”
The intrepid paramedic was tragically killed this week in a bombing raid by Vladimir Putin’s invading army.
The brave woman risked her life since the beginning of the conflict, more than two years ago, and saved countless wounded soldiers, providing them with urgent first aid.
She publicized her work and inspired others to follow her into the war zone to fight Putin’s forces.
Intrepid paramedic Iryna Tsybukh, 25, wrote a moving letter to her 18-year-old brother just before she died.
The war paramedic had been on the battlefield since the conflict began more than two years ago, but was killed by a Russian bombing raid earlier this week.
In an intensely moving letter, he wrote: ‘To have the strength to be a free person, it is necessary to be brave.
‘Because only the brave have happiness, and it is better to die running than to live rotting.’
Praised this week for her inspiring work by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, she urged her compatriots: “Be worthy of the deeds of our heroes, do not be sad, be brave.”
Iryna wrote the heartbreaking letter to her younger brother Yuri just over a year ago and the 18-year-old published it after his death on Wednesday, May 29.
She wrote: “The 5th Crew and I are working for the 80th Brigade Recon, Aerosmith’s ‘Dream On’ is playing in the background and (I realize) there have been so many chances to die this year, so I decided to write a posthumous letter,’.
He gave his reflections on life and also on death, which he saw around him.
‘It is sad that we live so weak, dependent on the social approval of life, that only death allows us to live in absolute freedom.
“However, the problem is that life is over and this freedom no longer has any meaning.”
The Ukrainian fighter wrote: “To have the strength to be a free person, it is necessary to be brave.” in the powerful letter that his younger brother has just revealed
The brave paramedic made it clear in her letters that she was proud of her work and wanted to inspire others to resist Russian expansion in Ukraine.
Iryna said in her posthumous letter: ‘Above all I want to thank myself, my parents, my brother, my family and my friends, thank you for allowing me to be free, to live the life I want.
“A large-scale war forced me to stop being a slave to fears.”
He made it clear that he was “doing what I want” by resisting Russian expansion into Ukraine.
‘I don’t feel sorry for dying, because I’m finally living the life I would like….
‘Today everything was behind me, my life was over and for me it was important to live it with dignity: to be an honest, kind and loving person.
“Today we work for heroes and this is a good opportunity to confirm our values: to truly be that person.” she wrote.
He told his brother Yuri: ‘We loved each other, we were a wonderful brother and sister, they were good times.
‘Let these memories warm you, motivate you, but in no way bother you.
“To have the strength to be a free person, you have to be brave.”
On the other hand, he lamented what he could never have because of Putin’s invasion.
‘I want children. I want a house. “I want to plant tomatoes… but the most important thing is to end the war,” he stated.
“War is the worst place I have ever been, but it gives a ticket to real life, to a world of genuine independence: it marks the knowledge of the transience of existence.”
In one video, he said: “Courage is when you are afraid, but you have something more than fear, something more important.”
‘And you’re willing to die for it, and you’re willing to live for it.
‘Do you know what is really difficult in war?
‘When your mother calls you from the basement because Lviv is under fire and you are risking your life.
‘But your mother is in Lviv (western Ukraine), far from the front line with my brother, my father, my grandmother and my relatives.
‘I realize that they are not protected either.
‘I am very angry that Russia is going so far.
‘I’m so angry I can’t protect them.
‘Even though I am at the front, I am doing everything I can here to stop the advance of the (Russian) scum.’
‘And yet, I’m not doing enough, because (my family) is unprotected and in danger.’
Zelensky greeted the paramedic in a late-night speech this week.
“Iryna Tsybukh, a combat medic of the Hospital Medical Battalion, was killed in combat in the Kharkiv region,” he said.
‘She was one who not only defended the country but also worked tirelessly to encourage others to join, train and learn to be effective.
“She was deeply involved in frontline medicine, honoring our warriors and commemorating the exploits of Ukrainians.”
Zelensky expressed his condolences “to all of Iryna’s comrades and friends, to her loved ones, to everyone who knew her and inspired her to fight for Ukraine and achieve results for Ukraine.”
“It is very important that their work, and the efforts of all our fallen heroes, continue…”