‘They Couldn’t Get Out’: Commander details bombing that killed Brazilians

Brazilian Lieutenant Sandro Carvalho da Silva, who commanded an allied detachment with Ukrainian troops, gave details of the Russian bombing that killed Douglas Búrigo and Thalita do Valle in the city of Kharkiv on Thursday afternoon (30).

There are three cases of Brazilians killed in the Ukrainian war. André Hack, a member of the same unit, died in battle against the Russians in the early hours of 5 June.

in an interview with UOLHe said he was part of a group of Brazilians, Colombians and Spaniards who had set up temporary bases in their townhouse in a village and sought Ukrainian civilians left behind in the middle of the fighting. Sandro reports that he was at one of these properties with Douglas, Thalita, and another fighter when they were surprised by the bombings.

“In theory it was an empty village. But there are a lot of people who don’t want to leave. It was a relatively quiet area. There was no more hand-to-hand combat or the presence of soldiers. The enemy. But we were hit with heavy weapons.”

According to the platoon commander, after the first explosion, the group sought protection in a bunker built on the property. However, a mortar with incendiary ammunition caused a fire in the two-story mansion.

HE [nome do outro combatente] he climbed the stairs to the end of the shelter and saw that there was a lot of fire starting to spread throughout the house. We remember that there was a lot of wood on the ground. Then we decided to go out in the middle of the fire, taking a few seconds break between shot and shot. It was a dangerous decision because we could get shot.”
Sandro Carvalho da Silva, platoon commander

Sandro said he escaped through the window while the house was already on fire. The other warrior escaped through a hole in the wall caused by one of the explosions. He said he even saw Douglas leave behind him. The last time she saw him alive, he explained. When he reached the woods to avoid the mortar shells, he found only the other warrior in the detachment. The same person who found the fire in the house.

“I looked up, saw a drone, and ran into the woods. From there I kept yelling at them. [Douglas e Thalita] To leave. But they couldn’t get out. Then came another shot that hit the house. And we had to run to another bunker. If we had stayed there, we would have died too.”

Thalita rescued in bunker: ‘died by drowning’

When the bombing sequence was interrupted, the fighters radioed to regroup the surrounding troops and asked for reinforcements from the fighters in other houses in the village. Sandro says the house where Douglas and Thalita are has already been set on fire. But the idea was to intensify efforts to save them.

“We returned home despite the risk of being attacked again,” he says.

The warriors then ran with buckets of water to put out the fire and reach the bunker. While the house was still covered in black smoke, a Colombian fighter broke into the property and entered the bunker for rescue.

He found Thalita unconscious on the floor, wrapped in a blanket. After putting on a breathing mask on his face, he left feeling sick and drunk with the smoke. Later, another soldier entered the place and managed to get Thalita out.

I tried CPR to revive him, but I couldn’t. So we got in a car and took him to a medical facility. But she was already dead, she. She died of suffocation from the smoke. The body was solid. I just had a few burns on my hands.”
Sandro Carvalho da Silva, platoon commander

In the same action, three soldiers inhaled the smoke in the middle of the rescue suffered lung poisoning. Among them, Sandro himself – the only one who has already been discharged. The Brazilian commander said that another officer, who was hit by shrapnel in the chest, was operated on and remained in the hospital in a stable condition.

Official returns to rescue Douglas Thalita

According to the fighters who were on the ground bombed by the Russians, Douglas stayed at home to try to get Thalita out of the bunker. However, he died when the explosion hit.

“Douglas was right behind me. But he decided to turn back. He risked his own life to save his colleague and was arrested. Douglas was a hero,” the team commander comments.

The town hall of São José dos Ausentes (RS), where Douglas lives, declared three days of official mourning for his death in the Ukrainian war yesterday (4).

‘He wanted to patrol with us’

The dead warriors remained in the war zone for only one week. But they died on the first mission. Having experience in previous conflicts, Thalita became a sniper three years ago, participating in missions against ISIS in Iraq, Iraqi Kurdistan and Syrian Kurdistan.

The actor, model, and animal activist joined the search for tragedy in Brumadinho (MG), which left 270 dead in January 2019.

However, according to his family and the commander of the unit he was in, his main occupation was really working as a savior.

Thalita was one of the few emergency workers in the platoons. A commander said he didn’t want a woman on the front lines. I wanted to put him in a backup health facility. But she put her foot down and said she wanted to patrol with us. The commander agreed because there weren’t many people with his experience. Thalita had a lot of courage and willingness to help”
Sandro Carvalho da Silva, platoon commander

“Thalita was where she wanted to be. She was a warrior, a top-notch heroine,” he adds.

Douglas, on the other hand, was noted for his attention to detail. Like when the troop uses vegetation to camouflage a hole used as one of their lookout points. Or the care he takes in preparing food. “Douglas was a quiet gaucho who was always in a good mood. They were there because the League members wanted to be there,” he says.

With the attack, team members lost all the gear they were carrying, such as drones, binoculars, grenades, rifles, bulletproof vests, helmets, night vision equipment, and even cell phones.

“I just wore body shorts, nothing else,” Sandro says.

At that time, he interrupts the report and makes a request: “I want you to write, if possible, that the unity is solid despite the casualties. We are saddened by the loss of our colleagues, but no one should leave. out of here. in this war”.