One Government Soldier Killed In Eastern Ukraine
By RFE/RL
Ukraine's military said on January 12 that one of its soldiers was killed and four wounded in clashes that took place in the eastern part of the country during the previous 24 hours.
A Defense Ministry statement said Russia-backed separatists violated a frequently breached cease-fire nine times in skirmishes where separatists fired machine guns, grenade launchers, and mortars.
A day earlier, the military said three soldiers were killed by separatist shelling.
The separatists, meanwhile, claimed Ukrainian government forces violated the cease-fire 14 times in the last 24 hours using artillery, machine guns, and grenade launchers.
Since April 2014, more than 10,300 people have been killed by fighting between Kyiv's forces and the Russia-backed 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.