Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed condolences to the families of three soldiers who have been killed by an explosive device in eastern Ukraine, as was reported by the press service of Volodymyr Zelensky on Telegram.
Thus, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy commissioned Minister of Defense Andriy Taran and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Ruslan Khomchak to urgently arrive in the area of the Joint Forces Operation to investigate the deaths of three Ukrainian servicemen.
At approximately 10 a.m. of February 14, three servicemen were mortally wounded by an unidentified explosive device while moving in the Novoluhanske area to check the service and conduct military rotation: Captain Oleksandr Voytenko, Private First Class Vyacheslav Oleksiyenko and Private First Class Dmytro Myronenko. The fighters died on the spot.
Zelensky’s message confirmed that three servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were blown up by TM-62 mines in the zone of their own responsibility.
“The guys were blown up by five TM-62 mines, installed in a checkerboard pattern. At about 9:20 a.m. on February 14, our military moved to serve in the positions of the platoon squad. As they moved along the route, an explosion occurred at about 9:30. An ambulance arrived at the scene but could not save them,” the message reads.
At the same time, the President of Ukraine declares that there are three versions of what had transpired. The first version: violation of the rules for handling ammunition and explosive devices. The second is the negligent attitude of the military towards service, expressed in moving to unverified terrain while performing combat missions. The third is a terrorist act.
Zelensky instructed the command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to check all minefields in the area of responsibility of the units and find out when, by whom and under what circumstances mines were planted.