Oleh Andriyenko, a soldier with Ukraine’s 56th Motorized Infantry Brigade, had been killed in action in the war zone of Donbas, Ukraine’s military police contingent in the region, the Joint Forces, reported on Jan. 12.
The deadly clash with Russian-backed militants occurred on Jan. 11 approximately at 3.30 p.m. local time in the abandoned front line town of Pisky, close to the ruined Donetsk Airport
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The soldier “sustained a fatal gunshot injury” and succumbed to his wounds shortly, according to a communique from Andriyenko’s combat formation.
It is the first Ukrainian military fatality in 2021 and the fifth confirmed combat-related loss of life since yet another ceasefire was declared in Donbas on July 27.
Andriyenko was 37 years old.
“The military serviceman was survived by his son Timur, who is less than one year old, his wife Maryna, and his mother,” the 56th Motorized Infantry Brigade said on Jan. 12.
“The blessed memory of Oleh Andriyenko will be preserved in the hearts of those who knew, loved, and respected him.”
According to Ukraine’s Presidential Office, at least 49 Ukrainian service members were killed and 18 wounded in action in Donbas throughout 2020, in spite of “the longest ceasefire” advocated by President Volodymyr Zelensky as part of his peace initiative for the war-torn region.
In general, over 13,000 combatants and civilians have been killed and over 30,000 injured in the Russian-sponsored war that continues with no end in sight since spring 2014.
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