Topics: Ukraine, Russia, World News
Pasha Lee - the Ukrainian actor who died last week while defending his country - was reportedly killed after he gave his bulletproof vest to a child.
Further details of the circumstances surrounding Lee's death have emerged after it was confirmed that the body of the 33-year-old, who was best known as a television presenter and for his voice over work in Ukrainian versions of The Lion King and The Hobbit - had been recovered.
Oleksandra Matviichuk, head of Ukraine's Centre for Civil Liberties, tweeted on Sunday, March 13, that Lee's body had been found in Irpen, where he had been killed after coming under Russian fire while helping with evacuation efforts in the city.
'He helped the children get out of the house during the evacuation of people from Irpen. The evacuation that Russians disrupted by shelling civilians. Pasha took off his bulletproof vest and put it on the child he was carrying,' she wrote.
Advert
It's not immediately clear whether the child Lee gave his bulletproof vest to survived the attack.
Alongside confirmation that Lee's body had been recovered, Matviichuk shared a picture of the actor that appeared to have been taken shortly after he joined the Ukrainian reserves, showing him with a buzzcut, wearing military clothing, and appearing to be sporting a black eye, sat on the ground alongside a german shepherd dog.
Lee was understood to have signed up for the Territorial Defence Forces in the first days following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and had shared a number of images on Instagram of himself alongside his fellow volunteer fighters.
In a tribute to the actor, the head of the DOM TV channel for which Lee had worked as a presenter told the National Union of Journalists in Ukraine that he had been the 'most cheerful and sunny' person.
His death on March 6 came as efforts to evacuate the besieged city of Irpen came under attack as Russian forces shelled the corridor along which civilians were being taken toward the capital, Kyiv, per the BBC.
Several Ukrainian soldiers, as well as a number of civilians, died in the attack which was captured in graphic detail by journalists who were at the scene to witness the evacuation efforts.
Irpen has become one of a handful of cities on the front line of the Ukrainian defense of Kyiv, with daily battles and heavy bombardment having taken place almost daily since the beginning of the war more than two weeks ago.
If you would like to donate to the Red Cross Emergency Appeal, which will help provide food, medicines and basic medical supplies, shelter and water to those in Ukraine, click here for more information
