"He cared about his subordinates": emergency rescuer Vitalii Kints dies in hospital after Russian attack on Pokrovsk
Vitalii Kints, Chief of the 9th State Fire and Rescue Detachment (SFRD) of the Main Directorate (MD) of Ukraine’s State Emergency Service (SES) and Colonel of the Civil Protection Service, injured during the response to the Russian attack on the city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast on 7 August, has died in hospital.
Source: Vitalii passed away on the night of 12-13 August, as reported by the 9th SFRD of the MD of the SES of Ukraine in Donetsk Oblast.
Details: Serving with the Pokrovsk fire garrison, Vitalii was engaged in rescuing civilians affected by the Russian bombardment on 7 August.
He was severely injured during the subsequent Russian strike.
The fire department chief was taken to the I. I. Mechnikov Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Clinical Hospital in the city of Dnipro.
"The emergency rescuers' family will always remember Vitalii as a courageous and humane leader, a true professional of his craft who devoted a significant part of his life to the service," the SES added.
Read also: Memories of couple from Kyiv killed in Russian attack on 24 June
In a comment to Ukrainska Pravda.Zhyttia, Veronika Bakhal, spokeswoman for the State Emergency Service in Donetsk Oblast, said Vitalii was cheerful and sociable.
"He was a trustworthy person, a specialist, a professional in his craft, as he had spent many years working in the rescue service. He was a cheerful and sociable person, the life of the party," the spokeswoman added.
Denys Shylenko, a co-founder of the Toloka Initiative Centre, said he had been working with Vitalii for several years.
The two worked together on social projects. During one of their meetings, Denys recalls that Vitalii suggested initiatives to improve safety and ideas for developing the 9th SFRD and separate units.
"He was the only chief who joined the projects and attended every meeting. He cared about his subordinates. And in the first days of the Russian invasion, Vitalii requested help to procure washing machines so that the emergency workers could wash their clothes after their missions. At that time, everyone lived in the units," Denys told Ukrainska Pravda.Zhyttia.
Background: Internally displaced persons from Bakhmut were killed in Odesa due to the Russian bombardment on the night of 10 June.
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