The Ukrainian army announced on Saturday the death of one of its men in fighting with pro-Russian separatists in the eastern part of the country, amid escalating tensions with Moscow for several weeks.
It was the first death since a new ceasefire was announced last month by rival parties in the conflict, which has claimed the lives of more than 13,000 people since 2014, according to UN estimates.
“A soldier was fatally wounded,” the Ukrainian military said in a statement, accusing the separatists of carrying out three attacks in the past 24 hours.
War broke out in Ukraine in 2014 between pro-Russian separatists and the army. The separatists, who control much of the eastern part of the country, are backed financially and militarily by Moscow, and insist on Kiev and the West despite Russian denials.
On December 22, the opposing sides concluded a ceasefire agreement on the front line, before accusing each other of violating it.
All previous attempts at a ceasefire have failed.
Tensions in Ukraine and Russia, already high in recent years, are currently experiencing a new escalation.
For more than a month now, Western governments have been accusing Russia of gathering troops on its border with Ukraine and arguing that it is planning a military operation against Kiev. Moscow denies this, saying it’s threatened by “challenges” from Ukraine and NATO, demanding that the latter commit to not expanding further into the former Soviet Union.
US President Joe Biden is expected to speak by telephone later Sunday with his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky.
In a televised address to Ukrainians on New Year’s Eve, Mr Zelensky assured that ending the war in the east of the country remained his “top priority”.
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