Two more Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in action in the war zone of Donbas through April 5, with the Ukrainian death toll since the beginning of 2021 toll rising to at least 24.
Junior Sergeant Viktor Gelebrant of the 92nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade sustained a fatal firearm injury during a regular late-night duty watch.
According to the previous military communique, the deadly incident occurred in the combat area of Zolote-4 in Luhansk Oblast, close to the local cross-frontline entry point.
Originally from the town of Krasnokutsk in Kharkiv Oblast, Gelebrant was survived by his wife and a son.
He was 49 years old.
Also, the same night, yet another soldier Vladyslav Moroz of the 72nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade was killed in action near the stronghold city of Avdiyivka.
He was 23.
Starting from the moment Ukraine and Russia agreed yet another armistice in Donbas on July 27, 2020, at least 28 Ukrainian soldiers and officers were killed, mostly in sporadic armed clashes with the militants, or in sniper attacks, according to the Presidential Office.
Facing an increasing combat-related death toll, Ukraine’s party to the Minsk peace talks requested that Russia gives green light to a new general armistice starting from April 1.
But, according to Ukrainian envoys, Russian representatives declined the offer, saying that existing ceasefire provisions were “quite sufficient” for the situation.
Since late March 31, tensions in the region’s security situation escalated sharply as Russia was spotted massing fresh military forces in occupied Crimea and near the eastern Ukrainian border.
The U.S. and NATO have reassured their full support of Ukraine in the crisis and strongly warned Moscow against a possible all-out invasion.
