A group of Ukrainian servicemen have been taken prisoner by Kremlin-backed militants in the besieged city of Debaltseve in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine's Defense Ministry said on Feb. 17.
The report comes as thousands of Ukrainian troops are being surrounded in Debaltseve in what may become one of the biggest defeats for the nation’s army since the battle of Illovaisk in August and September. That massacre of hundreds of Ukrainian troops forced President Petro Poroshenko into the first Minsk peace agreements in September, the therms of which were routinely violated by the Russian side.
The Defense Ministry said soldiers of the General Staff’s 101st Security Guard Brigade and the 8th Special Forces Regiment had been ambushed by Russian proxies.
The ministry also denied reports by Russia and their proxies that dozens of Ukrainian soldiers had been captured, with figures ranging from 20 to 300. However, it did not specify the number of prisoners.
The press offices of the General Staff and the anti-terrorist operations’ headquarters were not available for comment.
Commenting on the situation in Debaltseve, the ministry said that the city is partially controlled by Kremlin-backed troops. The Novoye Vremya magazine reported, citing a deputy commander of the Kyivan Rus volunteer battalion without specifying his name, that 90 percent of Debaltseve is controlled by insurgents.
Kyiv Post staff writer Oleg Sukhov can be reached at [email protected].
