Although it was announced by city hall, the death of the 19-year-old Brazilian was not confirmed by Itamaraty
SÃO PAULO, SP (FOLHAPRESS) – At least 12 Brazilians have died in combat in the Ukrainian War since the Eastern European country was invaded by Russia in February 2022, Itamaraty told reporters this Sunday (1st). The number does not include the case of Tiago Nunes, who worked as a volunteer for the Kiev forces and died last Thursday (28), according to the City Hall of Rurópolis (PA), his hometown.
Although it was announced by city hall, the death of the 19-year-old Brazilian was not confirmed by Itamaraty, which is awaiting notification from the Ukrainian authorities. The ministry, however, says it is aware of the Brazilian’s disappearance and states that it is in contact with his family.
Among the deaths confirmed by Itamaraty is that of Antônio Hashitani, 25, who studied at PUC-PR (Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná) and decided to leave the course last year to take part in the war. He died as a volunteer in a paramilitary group fighting in the Bakhmut region, the scene of one of the bloodiest battles of the conflict.
Previously, in 2022, the ministry had already announced the deaths of at least two other Brazilians: Gaucho André Hack Bahi, 43, who worked as a rescuer for the International Legion of Defense of Ukraine, and Douglas Búrigo, 40, who was outside the Army Brazilian and died in Kharkiv, in the east of the invaded country.
The region is one of the most targeted in the conflict. Currently, 18% of Ukraine, including the Crimean peninsula, seized in 2014, is under Russian control.
Moscow says it has annexed the regions of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhia, although it does not completely dominate them. Last Friday (29), Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelenski mentioned during an interview the possibility of temporarily giving up these territories in exchange for an invitation to join NATO, the Western military alliance that supports Kiev.
The proposal aims to guarantee some security for the country in the future. The change in tone occurred after Donald Trump won the United States presidential election in early November. Critical of Washington’s billion-dollar aid to Kiev, the Republican even said during the campaign that he could end the conflict in a few hours, although he did not say how he would do this.
“It’s a solution to interrupt the hot phase of the war,” said Zelenski in the interview with American broadcaster Sky News. “Then Ukraine will be able to recover the other part of its territory through diplomatic channels.”
According to Zelensky, joining NATO would guarantee that Russia would not attack Ukrainian territory again. On the same day as the interview, the Reuters news agency reported that it had obtained a letter in which Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sibiha asked his colleagues from the military alliance to issue an invitation to Kiev during a meeting in Brussels at the beginning of December.
The text and interview reflect Ukraine’s new effort to secure membership in the group – part of a “victory plan” presented last October by Zelensky.
In the letter, Ukraine argues that an invitation at this time would show Russian President Vladimir Putin that he could not achieve one of his main goals – preventing Kiev from becoming a member of NATO.
“The invitation should not be seen as an escalation,” Sibiha wrote in the letter. “On the contrary, with the clear understanding that Ukraine’s membership in NATO is inevitable, Russia will lose one of its main arguments for continuing this unjustified war.”
