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A Ukrainian marine blew himself up with a bridge in Crimea on Thursday, repelling the advance of Russian forces and allowing his battalion to regroup and redeploy.

The young man, Vitaly Shakun, was guarding the Hnyshesk bridge in the Kherson region when the Russians were advancing in his direction, according to a report by the Daily Mail.

“On this difficult day for our country, when the Ukrainian people were repelling the Russian occupiers from all directions, the area around Crimea was one of the most difficult places on the map of Ukraine, where a separate battalion of marines faced the enemies there, and to stop their advance it was decided to blow up the bridge of the Hinichesk Road” on What the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces wrote on its Facebook page.

Skakun volunteered to perform the task of mining the bridge in order to blow it up. But the soldier did not have time to leave, so he died.

In the post, the authority said: “Skakon called the command and said that he would blow up the bridge. An explosion was heard immediately. Our brother died. His heroic act greatly slowed the enemy’s advance, allowing his unit to redeploy and organize its defense.”

She indicated that the leadership of the Ukrainian Navy will submit a request to the Supreme Command to award Skakun the state award.

Skakun is believed to have been among at least 137 people who died on the first day of the war on Thursday.