A Ukrainian service member was killed and another one was wounded after Russian-sponsored forces shelled Ukrainian positions near the village of Hranitne in Donetsk Oblast on Oct. 26.
Master Sergeant Heorhii Khalikov of the 93rd Mechanized Infantry Brigade was killed in the attack, according to the Facebook account of the Poltava Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support. He was 51.
Khalikov lived in the Shyshatska territorial community in Poltava Oblast, where he served in law enforcement before Russia’s war began. According to Ukrainian news reports, he is survived by three children.
The Joint Forces Operation reported that Russian-backed forces violated ceasefire 13 times on Oct. 26. This includes six violations using weapons banned by the Minsk peace agreements.
According to the Armed Forces, 2,719 service members have been killed and 10,368 have been wounded due to Russia’s conflict as of Oct. 17. Over 13,000 people have been killed in total.
The militants regularly violate the ceasefire agreement that was introduced in July 2020.
In retaliation for the officer’s death, Ukrainian forces used the Turkish-made Bayraktar aerial combat drone to attack militant forces for the first time, striking an artillery unit.
