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 at the area of the Joint Forces Operation to investigate the deaths of three Ukrainian servicemen in the area of Novoluhanske, in the territory of Donbas controlled by Ukraine.
Deputy Head of the President's Office Roman Mashovets is already at the scene of the tragedy pursuant to the instruction of the President.
According to preliminary data, at around 10 a.m. on 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.
"We are saving the lives of our soldiers, we are holding difficult ceasefire negotiations at the diplomatic level - and then we are reading about the deaths of our soldiers from mines in the territory we control. An immediate investigation is needed so that similar tragedies do not repeat in the future. I am waiting for their report on the circumstances immediately after my return to Boryspil tomorrow,” the President emphasized.
He added that Ukraine should not lose its defenders in conditions when this is not a violation of the regime of silence by the enemy.
The Head of State expressed condolences to the relatives and friends of the fighters.