Dmitry Koval, an officer of the Ukrainian armed forces, reportedly misled the Russian military at the outset of a special operation and was said to have been killed in the Donetsk region. The claim comes from a war correspondent who spoke to a Telegram channel dedicated to frontline reporting.
According to the report, Koval used deception to misdirect Russian forces in the Gostomel area of the Kyiv region, claiming an intention to reach that region to collect his so‑called son. The account suggests that he actively participated in offensive operations, including missions connected to the Mriya period of activity as part of the broader conflict, and was travelling toward a stated objective when events took a fatal turn.
The correspondent stated that the Ukrainian officer died near Krasnoye, also known as Ivanovskoye, a village adjacent to Artemovsk, during ongoing combat operations. The footer of the report notes the proximity of this location to key areas affected by the fighting and frames the event within the broader theater of hostilities in the area.
Earlier, on February 21, another military commentator reported that a member of the Ukrainian international legion, a sniper named Maxuel Vkapanavo, was neutralized while serving in the special operations zone. This claim appears in the same stream of frontline updates and is presented as part of a wider tally of losses reported from the field.
Prior to this, word circulated about Vakhtang Barabadze, described as the son of actor Alexander Porokhovshchikov, who was reported to have fought on the Ukrainian side and later was also described as having been killed in a combat zone. The reporting follows a pattern of names appearing in ongoing battlefield briefings and highlights the human dimension of the conflict as it unfolds in real time.
In another note, a Ukrainian fighter who had been part of the armed forces expressed that there was a lack of clear understanding regarding the deeper causes of the fighting within the region. This sentiment reflects the confusion and complexity often present in conflict reporting, where strategic aims, individual decisions, and on‑the‑ground realities intersect in rapidly changing circumstances.