One soldier was killed and one wounded on July 10 after an anti-tank missile hit a military truck, which was traveling in a motorcade with Donetsk Oblast Governor Pavlo Kyryneko, reports by the military and presidential office said.
The attack occurred at roughly 3 p.m. close to the village of Granitne in southern Donetsk Oblast, located near the frontline with territories occupied by Russian-led forces, the Joint Forces Operation reported.
At that moment, Kyrylenko was in a car parked near the truck. It remained intact, according to a statement by President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Office.
Zelensky, who officially presented Kyrylenko as a new governor on July 5, called the attack “an attempt to disrupt the Minsk (peace) process” and ordered the head of the General Staff, Ruslan Khomchak, to intensify the fight against subversive groups in the war zone.
But the question remains: what was the governor doing near the frontline?
Several journalists and bloggers claimed Kyrylenko made this risky travel without informing the military and taking necessary precautions.
Kyrylenko wasn’t available for immediate comment. Earlier in the day, he visited the frontline towns of Maryinka and Krasnohorivka, according to his press service.
“Showing off by the governor ended with the killing of a soldier,” war veteran and activist Borys Ovcharov wrote on Facebook.
“The authorities of the Joint Forces found out about (Kyryneko’s trip) by way of a dead person,” journalist Tetiana Nikolayenko added.
Deputy Prime Minister Pavlo Rozenko responded to the incident with a proposal to start an immediate investigation into the attack and suspend Kyrylenko from his duties until the investigation is finished.
“Here you are: the fruits of the secrecy and low professionalism in appointments,” Rozenko wrote on Facebook.
