Senior Sailor Dmytro Vlasenko, a Ukrainian serviceman with the 503rd Marine Battalion, was killed in action in the Donbas war zone on Feb. 2, becoming the fourth Ukrainian combat-related military fatality in 2021.
The incident occurred near the front line town of Shymy near the Russian-occupied city of Horlivka, some 500 kilometers southeast of Kyiv.
Ukrainian marines were attacked by an enemy marksman and Vlasenko sustained a severe injury, according to the military.
“Fellow marines and medics rendered all necessary aid, but an hour later, doctors confirmed his death — the injury turned out to be fatal,” the battalion wrote on its official Facebook page.
The killed marine had served with the battalion for over three years.
As recently as Jan. 30, another Ukrainian soldier, Roman Dziubenko, succumbed to his injuries in a hospital after being badly hit by an enemy sniper in the war zone four days earlier.
In total, eight Ukrainian service members were killed in action since the latest ceasefire with Russian-backed militants began on July 27.
