Vitalii “Dieda,” a driver with the 3rd Mechanized Battalion, drives a combat pickup truck and takes soldiers to the front line every day. He is a respected figure among his fellow soldiers and leads by example, showing what it means to live and fight to protect your home.
In “Dieda’s” favorite parable, a father travels in the train carriage next to his son so that he can be close whenever his son becomes afraid. Today, he lives out that story himself: his son serves alongside him in the same battalion. Vitalii and his sons have matching tattoos reading Dum spiro spero (“While I breathe, I hope”), a symbol of family unity and unwavering support for one another.
Behind the wheel of a combat vehicle, “Dieda” gives his fellow soldiers a sense of security and proves every day that a true father stays close through the hardest trials.
