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Andriy Lysenko: State Fiscal Service officer and a volunteer killed in the course of militant attack, more people injured

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Kyiv, September 2, 2015. Early in the morning, Russia-backed militants ambushed a Ukrainian mobile group designated to counter smuggling across government- and militant-controlled areas, consisting of State Fiscal Service of Ukraine (SFS) and security service officers as well as Ukrainian troops and volunteers. The incident occurred in the vicinity of Lobacheve, a town between Slovyanoserbske and Shchastya, Luhansk region. There were mine traps as well as a militant sniper on the group’s route. “Ukrainian military promptly arrived to the site of attack. As a result of successful defense actions, the enemy had to retreat beyond the Siversky Donetsk river. One volunteer and an SFS officer were killed in action and four servicemen were wounded in action,” said Colonel Andriy Lysenko, spokesperson of Administration of the President of Ukraine on ATO-related issues, at a press briefing at Ukraine Crisis Media Center.
In the Luhansk sector, Ukrainian positions were mortared near the village of Shchastya yesterday morning. In addition, the militants were shooting from small arms near Krymske for forty minutes. “Ceasefire was holding in Stanytsya  Luhanske, Zolote and Popasna,” Col. Lysenko noted.

In the Donetsk sector near Sanzharivka, the Russia proxies conducted a short-term provocation. Militant groups opened fire from small arms and grenade launchers. No ceasefire violations were observed in the vicinity of Luhanske, Horlivka, Dzerzhynsk and Yasynuvata. “A hostile provocation took place between small Avdiivka and Spartak yesterday. The militants were firing from small arms and grenade launchers for half an hour,” said Col. Lysenko. No military action occurred in Pisky, Opytne and Krasnohorivka. On the other hand, Ukrainian positions near Maryinka village came under attack from the neighboring village of Oleksandrivka. Ceasefire was holding to the south of Maryinka along the Azov Sea coastline.

Ukrainian border guards observed three flights of militant unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in the ATO zone yesterday.

Ukrainian Armed Forces did not incur casualties over the past day; one person was wounded in action near Krymske, Luhansk region.

Ukrainian law enforcement in Kramatorsk detained a former militant. An 18-year old young man joined the self-declared “Donetsk People’s Republic” (“DPR”) to get financial reward during the occupation of the city in the spring of 2014. He prepared militant snipers and carried military duties on one of the militant checkponts. “The militant was promised food and money for his. He lived at the checkpoint. He has also received a uniform with Ukrainian border guard insignia in the local community council occupied by the Russia-back militants. The task was simple – to get drunk and discredit Ukrainian servicemen with undignified behavior.

Ukraine’s Security Service detained a militant informer in the village of Oleksandrivka, Donetsk region. The man was passing information about location of Ukrainian servicemen and their equipment as well as their displacement routes. The operatives also arrested a man in Artemivsk who attempted to pass 1.7 million Russian rubles to the militants. Furthermore, two Ukrainian corrupt officials were detained for providing security to 50 enterprises controlled by the “Oplot” militant group, which is led by the “DPR” leader Aleksandr Zakharchenko. During the search, the operatives seized a bribe of 50,000 hryvnias with them.