According to the Ukrainian government, three servicemen were killed and seven more wounded in the Donbass region of East Ukraine as the conflict simmers which has killed over six thousand people. Mortars, heavy machine guns, and self-propelled grenades were used by pro-Russian separatists, the official said.
“Yesterday, three Ukrainian soldiers were killed and seven more wounded in combat operations,” Ukrainian top military spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk said at a briefing in Kyiv on February 16, according to Ukraine Today.
NATO, Russia and Ukraine have been attempting to stabilize a cease-fire which was agreed to last year in Minsk among all parties. Heavy weapons have been withdrawn by both sides but fighting is flaring once again and threatening the fragile agreement.
According to Motuzyanyk, Russia also carried out surveillance flights along the border with the Crimean Peninsula which Russia annexed in 2014. “The flights of Russian military aviation, in particular three jets, two Mi-8 helicopters and two drones, were noticed near the administrative border of the occupied Crimea,” he added. Ukraine does not recognize Russia’s annexation.
