A Ukrainian military serviceman has been killed in the Donbas, bringing the combat death toll on the Ukrainian side to four since a ceasefire entered into force in July.
At around noon on Nov. 24, a Russian-backed sniper opened fire on the Ukrainian lines on the outskirts of Avdiivka, a front-line city located 700 kilometers to the southeast of Kyiv in Donetsk Oblast, inflicting severe injuries on one Ukrainian soldier, the Ukrainian Joint Forces stated. The forces did not return fire after the attack, as they needed to evacuate the wounded soldier.
The soldier was hospitalized, but died of his wounds later that day. He was identified as senior soldier Viacheslav Minkin, 31, of the 72nd Mechanized Infantry Brigade.
In an official statement, President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed condolences to Minkin’s family and friends. The military has already reported the incident to representatives of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), which has a monitoring mission in the conflict zone.
Minkin’s killing is the fourth confirmed combat-related death of a Ukrainian serviceperson since a ceasefire between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed militants came into force on July 27. Unlike previous ceasefires, this one has held for an unprecedented amount of time. Before it began, around 10 Ukrainian soldiers were killed every month.
However, Russian-backed militants often violate the ceasefire.
At least two armed attacks against Ukrainian troops occurred in the early morning hours on July 27, right after the ceasefire came into force.
In September, 40 days after the ceasefire began, Ukrainian forces reported their first combat-related death in the war zone. Russian-backed militants had opened fire on Ukrainian lines near the town of Prychepylovka in Luhansk Oblast and killed junior sergeant Taras Kubiovych of the 14th Mechanized Infantry Brigade.
On Oct. 30, two more Ukrainian soldiers were killed. Russian-backed militants opened fire from small arms and grenade launchers against Ukrainian lines near the front-line town of Vodyane, located 23 kilometers northeast of the key Azov Sea port of Mariupol, killing two non-commissioned officers: Sergeant Volodymyr Bondariuk and Senior Sergeant Mykhailo Starostin.
Despite violations by Russian-backed militants and regular reports of low-intensity hostilities, the Zelensky administration continues to call the current ceasefire the longest and most stable since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014.
