Three Ukrainian servicemen were killed by an unknown explosive device in the war zone of the Donbas on Feb. 14.
Ukraine’s military police as well as the leadership of the military unit are investigating the case on the ground, according to the press service of the Joint Forces Operation.
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The three soldiers were moving along the front line near the town of Novoluhanske in Donetsk Oblast, some 42 kilometers from Horlivka — the nearest city controlled by the Russia-backed separatists — when the incident happened.
The 81st separate airmobile brigade later confirmed the soldiers belonged to their military unit and expressed condolences to the relatives.
On Feb. 15, the three killed servicemen were identified as Senior Soldier Dmytro Myronenko 26, Captain Oleksandr Voitenko 46, and soldier Vyacheslav Oleksiyenko, 33.
Thirteen Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the war with Russia-led militants since the ceasefire started on July 27, 2020, all of them in the past 1.5 months. Most of this year’s fatalities were also caused by sniper fire.
President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak believes that the growing number of sniper attacks is “a very well-organized provocation” aimed at putting the armistice to an end.
“No further talks are possible as our men are getting killed. It is important to stress that they are being killed by special sniper squads that (get deployed to various front-line locations). Those are professional murderers that come specifically for this,” Yermak said during his trip to the frontline where he accompanied Zelensky on Feb. 11.
Zelensky still calls the ceasefire “the most stable armistice” since the war’s outbreak in 2014.
Over 13,000 people have been killed since Russia unleashed the war in eastern Ukraine in spring 2014.
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