Two Ukrainian soldiers were killed and four others were injured when gunmen opened fire on pro-Russian separatists in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, Kiev said today.
The press office of the Ukrainian army reported via Facebook that the separatists opened fire on six different occasions in the last 24 hours, against positions of the Ukrainian forces. A 59-year-old military doctor succumbed to his injuries after being hit by shrapnel. Another soldier is being treated for injuries, but his life is not in danger.
On Sunday night, the Ukrainian army announced that another soldier had been killed and three others wounded.
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Clashes with separatists in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions erupted in 2014, shortly after Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula. More than 13,000 people have been killed in this war to date.
Following the general ceasefire in the second half of 2020, tensions escalated again this year, especially after the deployment of some 100,000 Russian troops on the border with Ukraine. Although Moscow announced that it was withdrawing its units, the withdrawal was limited, according to Kiev and Western countries.
Russia insists its support for the separatists is purely political, but Ukraine and its Western allies complain that Moscow is sending troops and weapons to pro-Russian guerrillas.
