Ukraine soldier killed in knife battle with Russian he dubbed ‘world’s best fighter’ revealed as horror new vid emerges
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THE noble Ukrainian soldier who praised his killer as “the best fighter in the world” with his dying breath, as caught on camera, has been identified. A savage knife fight between two soldiers emerged last week in point-of-view footage, with the Ukrainian fighter eventually submitting, bidding goodbye to his mother and asking to die in peace.
![[Dmytro Maslovsky, 30, was the soldier whose final fight was filmed on his helmet camera]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/5e9bd34c-ccca-4a1e-a15f-ab8a07a21db4.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
The gallant warrior has been identified as Dmytro Maslovsky, 30, from Odessa, southern Ukraine. The Russian rival was also later named as Andrey Grigoriev and interviewed. More horrific footage of the clash has since emerged from an overhead drone which captured the grisly fight and ensuing interaction.
![[Andrey Grigoriev was the Russian fighter who clashed with Maslovsky and showed compassion at the end]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/42f35340-7849-44d0-a1fe-ca7c0893d2ad.jpg?strip=all&w=939)
The aerial view shows the two men grappling on the ground, their faces and hands horribly bloodied, before Grigoriev sits back. It also shows the moment Maslovsky detonated his grenade to finish himself off. Grigoriev later revealed that the blast only wounded the Ukrainian further, so he walked back and shot the dying man to put him out of his misery.
![[New aerial drone footage shows the bloody hand-to-hand contest]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/new-aerial-footage-shows-brutal-962396030.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
In an interview the Russian said: “When we got into the hand-to-hand fight, we both understood, he understood, too, I guess - there’s only one man out of this situation. “When we went into the hand-to-hand, we both knew that one of us had to die.”.
![[The dying words of the Ukrainian were to praise his final foe]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/rare-hand-to-hand-combat-962394910.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
The original video filmed from a helmet-mounted camera is an arresting insight into the brutality of warfare, and particularly the lethal intimacy of close combat. After attempting to shoot each other in a game of cat and mouse, the two soldiers find themselves tussling hand-to-hand.
![[The fight began with both soldiers firing at each other at close range before the Russian got close enough to pull out his blade]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/rare-hand-to-hand-combat-961230395_2497ee.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
