Michał Żurek’s burial ceremony took place in his home village of Bralin on Friday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Among the mourners gathered in the village church were the fallen soldier’s loved ones, local government officials and representatives from the Polish army, according to news outlets.
Poland’s Family and Social Policy Minister Marlena Maląg requested a requiem mass for the deceased, officials said.
Meanwhile, members of Bralin’s Ukrainian community laid a Ukrainian flag on Żurek’s coffin, next to which they placed a bouquet of flowers in their country’s national colours, the PAP news agency reported.
The village’s parish priest, Fr. Roman Krzyżaniak, said in his sermon that “none of us is a solitary island, because each of us lives next to their fellow person.”
He added: “God is the force that makes us able to sacrifice our life for another person and give our life for them.”
The priest told the mourners that Żurek was killed on Ukraine’s frontline on March 25, when the Catholic Church marked the Feast of the Annunciation, while the funeral service was taking place on April 14, which is Baptism of Poland Day.
Krzyżaniak told the gathering: “May these symbolic dates direct us, the living, to choose faith and God, and to make our way towards that which God had assigned for us.”
Polish soldier 'died fighting for Ukraine’s freedom'
Meanwhile, Żurek’s brother paid tribute to the fallen serviceman, saying that he “loyally served Poland" and "defended its independence and borders.”
The deceased soldier’s 16-year-old daughter Natalia described Żurek as “a wonderful man" and supportive father.
"He taught me that it’s very important to support each other and to count on each other,” she told the mourners.
Żurek, a sergeant in Poland’s Territorial Army, last year volunteered to join Ukraine’s war effort against the Russian invasion, according to news outlets.
He served as a platoon commander in the volunteer-based International Legion of Defence of Ukraine, the PAP news agency reported.
Żurek’s loved ones told PAP that he had gone to Ukraine “to fight for Ukraine’s freedom and the security of Poland.”
An obituary said that “in the time of need, he didn’t hesitate to give his blood and his life.”
Last month, Żurek suffered heavy head wounds from Russian shelling in the embattled city of Bakhmut, in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, officials said.
He died on March 25 in a hospital in Ukraine’s central city of Dnipro, according to Głos Wielkopolski, a regional Polish newspaper.
Żurek is survived by his wife Agata, and four children, three daughters and a son, aged from 12 to 18, the PAP news agency reported.
Friday is day 415 of Russia’s war on Ukraine.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, gloswielkopolski.pl