KYIV: Ukraine says one of its soldiers has been killed and two wounded in clashes that took place in the country’s east.
The Defense Ministry said on January 31 that Russia-backed separatists violated a frequently breached cease-fire three times during the previous 24 hours, firing machine guns, grenade launchers, and mortars.
Meanwhile, the separatists claimed that Ukrainian government forces shelled the town of Dokushayevsk, which they control, damaging an apartment in a five-story building.
Since April 2014, more than 10,300 people have been killed by fighting between Kyiv’s forces and the separatists who control parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
Cease-fire deals announced as part of the Minsk accords — September 2014 and February 2015 pacts aimed to resolve the conflict — have failed to hold.
A new cease-fire agreement was reached in late 2017 and was meant to begin on December 23, but both sides have accused each other of cease-fire violations since then.
