Tadas «Gora» Tumas is a fan of the football club «Žalgiris» (Vilnius), a representative of the «Pietų-IV» team.

Tadas Tumas was born on 19th of February 1981 in the town of Utena (close to Vilnius).

He graduated from secondary school in the Dauniškis neighbourhood. His favourite subject was biology. But his greatest passion since childhood was football.

He started actively supporting «Žalgiris» around 2007. He made quite a lot of trips on behalf of his home club, the most exotic of which was a trip to Astana. He also supported the Lithuanian national team in the fan sector.

His teammates remember Tadas as a very calm and balanced person. He let his emotions run wild only when the renewed «Žalgiris» became the Lithuanian champions again after the break.

In 2016 Tadas met his future wife Lina, who also supports «Žalgiris» and has visited more than 100 away matches. They got married the same year and later had two sons, born in 2017 and 2018.

Tadas had worked as a truck driver for many years. He also served actively in the Lithuanian National Defence Volunteer Forces for six years.

Foreseeing the danger ahead, in 2022 he went to study at the Border Guard School (Medininkai), where he was the best among 115 students in his class. He was awarded a personalised watch in recognition of his excellent academic performance.

Tadas was willing to fight right after the start of the large-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops, but despite his military training he wasn’t accepted by International Legion due to the lack of real combat experience.

In June 2023, Tadas was sent to serve at the Tribonys border guard station at the border with Belarus. He stayed there for three months. That was when he finally found a way to join Ukrainian Armed Forces.

In the autumn of 2023, he set off for Ukraine and took up arms. Tadas was a fighter of the International Legion, serving as a mortar launcher in the 92nd Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. He also served as a driver, scout and rifleman. He told his friends that he had to stop the enemy here so that his children would not have to face war.

His comrades-in-arms remember the Lithuanian as a very calm and strong man, a true professional in military affairs. His call sign «Gora» means «Hill». Tadas was just like that, giant and always balanced.

Tadas Tumas died on 23rd February 2024 near the village of Ivanivske, near Bakhmut (Donetsk region). While transporting mines with his Ukrainian comrade, their car was hit by an enemy drone.

«Gora» became the first Lithuanian volunteer to killed in the war for Ukraine. The funeral service for the brave son of Lithuania was held at St Michael's Golden-Domed cathedral in Kyiv. The farewell ceremony in Vilnius was attended by the President of Lithuania, Gitanas Nausėda.