Despite the ceasefire that was announced in Minsk on Sept. 5, Ukrainian army keep losing its men. Since the announcement of the truce, Russia-backed insurgents opened fire on the Ukrainian military more than 129 times.
Five
Ukrainian servicemen have been killed and 33 wounded over the period of the
ceasefire in eastern Ukraine, according to officials. Later three Ukrainian
border guards were killed and another two were injured on Sept. 10 when a
border guard car hit a landmine near Nyzhniobaranykivka, Luhansk Oblast, the
Ukrainian Border Guard Service reported.
Official
death toll stands at 864 killed, while the Kyiv Post count is 935 as of Sept.
10.
The
following is the list of those known to be killed through Aug. 31 – Sept. 7.
Sept. 1
Oleh
Andriets, 41, border guard from Odesa. Russia-backed militants opened fire on his
car when Andriets was patrolling the checkpoint near Mariupol. He leaves a wife
and 14-years-old daughter.
Oleksandr
Borysenko, 21,
soldier of 30th mechanized brigade from Rivne. Borysenko was a student of the
local university in Rivne and then decided to join the army. He was injured
near Iloviask in Donetsk Oblast and died later in a hospital.
Zenoviy Kolodiy, 21, soldier of 24th mechanized
brigade from Lviv. He was killed in Donetsk Oblast. “I never thought we’d mourn
our heroes here, those who were a little bit older than my own children. Now we
understand we need to fight for our independence,” Andriy Sadoviy, Lviv city
mayor said during the mourning.
Taras Zozuliya, 21, soldier of 80th airborne brigade from Lviv Oblast. He was killed
when insurgents backed by Russian regular army opened fire using Grad multiple
launcher near Luhansk airport that is now under control of the armed pro-Russia
militants.
Taras Drabyk, 30,
soldier of 80th airborne brigade from Lviv Oblast. Drabyk was killed in the fight with Russia-backed militants near
Luhansk airport.
Pavlo Redkovych, 22,
soldier of 80th airborne brigade from Volyn Oblast. He joined the army when mobilization started and was killed in
Donetsk Oblast. He leaves his parents in his native Maidan village in Volyn
Oblast.
Ivan Sova, 38, senior soldier of 80th airborne
brigade from Rivne Oblast.
Sept. 2
Andriy Karabinovych, 23, Ivano-Frankivsk Battalion member. He was killed in
Donetsk Oblast on Sept. 2. “You were a good man. Thank you for defending us. We
will miss you,” Karabinovych’s friend, Yulia Mazuryk, wrote on her vKontakte
page after his death.
Petro Susval, 24, soldier of 51 mechanized brigade from Volyn Oblast. Susval was injured in fight near Savur-Mohyla in Donetsk Oblast
and died later in a hospital in Dnipropetrovsk.
Oleksandr Marchuk, 25, soldier of 30th mechanized brigade from Zhytomyr Oblast. He leaves a wife
in Novohrad-Volynskiy.
Yuriy Artyukh, 35, Kyiv
Battalion member. Artykh, a student of Kyiv National Polytechnic University, was
deployed to the country’s east in mid-May. He was killed on Sept. 2.
Ihor Sheptytskiy, a member
of Ukrainian Volunteer Corps. He was mortally wounded during the shelling near
Donetsk. Sheptytskiy leaves a wife and 10-year-old son in Kyiv.
Sept. 3
Ruslan
Andra, 20, soldier
of 27th artillery unit from Sumy. Andra volunteered to join the army in April.
His friend, Daryna Zhuk, recalls she was very proud of her “cheerful and
supportive friend”, but worried about him. “He came back home once in May. He
planned to visit his family in the end of summer again. He even called his mom
to share the news, but then he was sent to the battlefield.” He was killed
during the shelling near Starobilsk in Luhansk Oblast. Andra leaves his parents
and younger brother in his native Sumy city.
Volodymyr Pereyaslov, 31, soldier from Stetskivka in Sumy Oblast. He was killed as local insurgents backed by Russian regular troops
opened fire using Smerch multiple rocket launcher near Starobilsk in Luhansk
Oblast.
Mykola Osipov, soldier of 27th artillery unit from Sumy. He
was killed during the shelling near Starobilsk in Luhansk Oblast.
Vitaliy Bei, 31, soldier from Sumy. Bei used to serve for 27th artillery unit and died during
the shelling near Starobilsk in Luhansk Oblast.
Serhiy Vykhrystyuk, 37,
warrant officer of 27th
artillery unit from Poltava Oblast. He used to serve for Ukraine’s armed forces
in 1994-1996 and was mobilized to the army in March. He was killed near
Starobilsk in Luhansk Oblast during the shelling. Vykhrystyuk leaves a wife and
two sons.
Bohdan Brysenko, 20, soldier of 27th artillery unit
from Lebedyn, Sumy Oblast. He leaves his parents and twin brother who did not
make it to the army in his native town in Sumy Oblast.
Ihor Zavalniy,
22, soldier from Sumy. He was killed during the shelling near
Starobilsk in Luhansk Oblast.
Serhiy Avramenko, soldier of 27th artillery unit from Romny in Sumy
Oblast. He was killed in Luhansk Oblast on Sept. 3.
Ivan Matvievskiy, 28, soldier from Poltava Oblast.
He used to serve in 27th artillery unit located in Sumy. Matvievskiy
was killed during the shelling near Starobilsk in Luhansk Oblast.
Serhiy Kutsenko, soldier from 27th artillery unit located in Sumy. He was killed during
the shelling near Starobilsk in Luhansk Oblast.
Fedir Ukharskiy, 37, Ukraine’s
National Guard soldier from Kyiv Oblast. Ukharskiy volunteered to the army in
spring and was killed in an ambush near Debaltsevo in Donetsk Oblast. His comrades
recalled he was very responsible serviceman. Ukharskiy leaves a wife and two
children. Local authorities promised to name a street in his native Teptiivka
village after him.
Roman Ploshchyk, 34, soldier from Romny in Sumy Oblast.
Borys Kozak, 24, soldier from Poltava Oblast. He was killed in an ambush near
Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast.
Vitaliy Stavskiy, 23, soldier of
80th airborne brigade from Rivne Oblast. Stavskiy was Greco-Roman wrestling
athletes, once a winner of Ukrainian national championships in 2007. He used to
serve in Ukraine’s army since 2011. He was killed on his 23rd
birthday while defending Luhansk airport.
Ruslan Stepula, 31, soldier of 80th airborne brigade from Ternopil
Oblast. Stepula leaves a wife and 6-year-old daughter in his native town.
Sept. 4
Oleh
Zadoyanchuk, 43, journalist from Kyiv. He was mobilized to the army in the end of
August and spent only three days in the anti-terrorist zone. Zadoyanchuk, a
graduate of Kyiv National Taras Shevchenko University used to work for UNIAN
and Ukrinform news agencies. Dmytro Shkurko, a chief editor of News and Analytic
department at Ukrinform where Zadoyanchuk worked, said “it’s a great loss for
our staff and for Ukrainian journalism. He literally gave his life to Ukraine,”
Shkurko said. “He spent his daytime reporting and had been training with his
comrades during the nights,” his comrade, Ivan Lelyukh was quoted as saying. Zadoyanchuk was killed while the terrorists opened fire
using Smerch multiple rocket launcher near Dmytrivka village in Luhansk Oblast.
Evhen Trokhymchuk, 22, soldier of Kirovohrad Battalion from
Kirovohrad Oblast. He wanted to join the army, but he got several refusals from
the local military commissariat. He managed to make it to the country’s
anti-terrorist zone from the 8th attempt and was serving in the same unit as
his father. He was killed near Kramatorsk.
Denys Yakovenko, 25, senior
soldier of Chernihiv-2 Battalion. He volunteered to the army and came back home once on rotation.
However, after the tragic events in Ilovaisk in Donetsk were more than 100
Ukrainian servicemen were killed in corridor offered by Russian troops,
Yakovenko came back to the east and was killed on Sept. 4.
Serhiy Pysaruk, 28, a
soldier of 51st mechanized brigade from Volyn Oblast. His brother,
Andriy Pysaruk, recalled he was one of the first mobilized to the country’s
east. “He used to repair damaged vehicles and was serving in Volnovakha for a
long time. He wasn’t afraid to transport his dead comrades in Ilovaisk was
killed on the first day of his vacation when he planned to get home,” Andriy
Pysaruk was quoted as saying. Pysaruk leaves a wife and seven-months-old son.
Sept. 5
Andriy Yurkevych, 33, Aidar Battalion member. He was
an active EuroMaidan Revolution supporter and then volunteered to the army. After
the ceasefire was announced, Yurkevych was killed in an ambush as the terrorist
waving Ukrainian flags opened fire on Yurkevych’s unit near Shastya village in
Luhansk Oblast. Reportedly, around 20 members of Aidar Battalion were killed
then.
Volodymyr Popov, 23,
mechanic soldier of 23rd Khortytsia territorial battalion from
Zaporizhzhiya Oblast. He was killed during the shelling near Shyroke village in
Donetsk Oblast, some hours before the ceasefire.
Yuriy Demydov, 33,
soldier of 23rd Khortytsia territorial battalion from
Zaporizhzhiya Oblast. He died in Shyroke village on Sept. 5.
Viacheslav Komar, 30, unit commander of 23rd Khortytsia
territorial battalion from Zaporizhzhiya Oblast.
Andriy Shanskiy, Ukraine’s
National Guard soldier. He was killed during the shelling near Mariupol. Shanskiy
leaves a wife.
Petro Lavrynenko, Ukraine’s National Guard senior
lieutenant. Lavrynenko used to serve in Kosovo and didn’t hesitate to volunteer
Ukrainian army. He was killed during the shootout in Donetsk Oblast.
Oleksandr Shyk, 33, soldier of the 1st Honcharivske tank artillery unit from
Chernihiv. His comrades recalled he never asked for vacation and didn’t visit
his hometown where his fiancé leaves. They planned to get married in autumn. He
was killed during the shelling near Luhansk on Sept. 3.
Volodymyr Yushchenko, 22, soldier of the 1st
Honcharivske tank artillery unit from Chernihiv.
Serhiy Bezhupchenko, 25, soldier from Chernihiv Oblast. He used to serve in the 1st Honcharivske tank artillery unit from since
March and was killed on Sept. 5.
Denys Drobniy,30, soldier from Dnipropetrovsk
Oblast. His comrades recalled he was kind and open-minded young man.
Drobniy was killed in Donetsk Oblast on Sept. 5.
Anatoliy Havrulyuk, 34, soldier
of 80th airborne brigade from Rivne Oblast.
Ivan
Lemeshchuk, 21,
soldier of 80th airborne brigade from Rivne. Lemeshchuk spent one
month in the country’s anti-terrorist zone in August and was killed Sept. 5. He
leaves his parents in his native Sytne village.
Sept. 6
Oleksandr Tkachenko, 23, soldier from Kharkiv. He was severely wounded near a checkpoint in Luhansk Oblast and
died later in Kyiv’s main military hospital.
Ivan Sviderskiy, 31, soldier of 80th airborne brigade
from Lviv Oblast. He was wounded on
Aug. 31 in during the shelling near Luhansk airport and died days later in Kyiv
hospital. Sviderskiy leaves a wife and two children.
Ihor Storozhuk, soldier from Ternopil.
Sept. 7
Dmytro Bezhenar, 27,
soldier of Novokalynivsky military aviation unit in Lviv Oblast. His friend,
Oleh Kovalenko, recalled last time he saw Bezhenar in the end of the August and
found out he’s coming back to the country’s east. Kovalenko said he was “kind and
helpful young man.” Bezhenar planned to marry after the end of the war. He
leaves his fiancé in Sambir town in Lviv Oblast.
Andriy
Atamanchuk, 35, Aidar Battalion member. Atamanchuk, who used to be an AutoMaidan activist, volunteered to the country’s east on
Ukraine’s Independence Day. He was
killed near Vesela Hora village in Luhansk Oblast when the terrorist opened
fire on Atamanchuk’s car. His friend, Oleksandr Havrylyuk, wrote on his
Facebook page: “He used to call me a ‘brother’ and always gave me good advice.
And it will never happen again,” Havrylyuk posted on Sept. 8. Atamanchuk leaves
a wife and two children in his native Lutsk.
Vitaliy
Ryabiy, 20, Praviy Sector member from Chernihiv. Ryabiy used to serve for the 1st
Honcharivske tank artillery unit for more than three months. He was wounded
because of grenade explosion and died later because of the blood loss.
Oleh Vyshnevskiy, 36, soldier from Lutsk. Vyshnevskiy leaves
5-year-old son in his native Lutsk in western Ukraine.
Kyiv Post staff writer Olena Goncharova can be reached at [email protected]
