Russian-sponsored militants killed a ranking Ukrainian military officer on July 5, the Joint Forces Operation reported.
Major Bohdan Brodovsky, 37, of the 93rd Mechanized Infantry Brigade was killed by an anti-tank missile after Donbas occupants opened fire on Ukrainian positions. Three more Ukrainian service members were wounded in the attack.
Brodovsky served in the Ukrainian Armed Forces since 2002.
“One soldier of the Joint Forces received fatal wounds as a result of enemy fire. The Joint Forces Command (JFO) expresses its sincere condolences to the family and friends of the deceased,” the JFO wrote in its July 6 morning report on Facebook.
Brodovsky is survived by his wife and four children.
In total, Donbas occupants violated the ongoing ceasefire nine times on July 5. Militants fired heavy machine guns near the village of Avdiivka and 120 and 82-millimeter mortars and grenade launchers near the village of Zolote-4.
They also shot grenades and small arms in the villages of Pisky, Novozvanivka, Novotoshkivske, Prychepylivka and Krymske and anti-tank missiles near Chermalyk. Ukrainian forces retaliated.
The current ceasefire went into effect on July 27, 2020. As a result of frequent violations by the Russian-sponsored militants, more than 40 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since.
Militant attacks and Ukrainian casualties increased in 2021, as Russia began to mass large numbers of troops along the Ukrainian border. The buildup of Russian forces hit a peak of over 100,000 personnel in April, raising fears of an all-out invasion of Ukraine.
The Russian Ministry of Defense had announced on April 22, that from April 23 onwards the troops would start to return to their permanent deployments.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said that the promised withdrawal was proceeding very slowly. In the beginning of May, the New York Times had reported that nearly 80,000 Russian soldiers remained near the border.
