Oleksandr Markiv, a Ukrainian officer serving with the country’s National Guards Rapid Reaction Brigade, was killed in action in the war zone of Donbas, the military reported on Sept. 28.
Markiv, who served in the rank of senior lieutenant, was killed during an engagement with Russian-backed militants the evening before, according to the report.
The officer was killed in action despite a formally active ceasefire announced in Donbas once again on June 21.
According to Ukraine’s Interior Ministry, the enemy had attacked Markiv’s unit at 5 p.m. local time, and that the officer was shot in the face.
At 7:30 p.m., senior lieutenant Markiv died. He was 38, according to the report.
Senior Lieutenant Oleksandr Markiv, a Ukrainian officer killed in action in Donbas on Sept. 27, 2019. (Ukraine's National Guard)
According to the National Guards, Markiv had a long history in the struggle for Ukraine’s freedom and independence. He took a part in the EuroMaidan Revolution of 2013-2014 and then joined the Armed Forces fighting the Russian-sponsored insurgency in Donbas.
In the following, he ended up being enlisted to the 4th Rapid Reaction Brigade, a high-alert elite combat formation based in the town of Hostomel just north-west of Kyiv.
“Always calm, cheerful, and prudent, Oleksandr was a reliable friend to his brothers in arms,” the brigade said on its official Facebook page.
“Re-enacting and military history were his passion. But above all things, he loved his wife and his little son, for the sake of which he gave his life.”
In the course of Sept. 28, there were no new casulaties in the Ukrainian ranks in Donbas, according to the military.
