The press center of the anti-terrorist operation (ATO) in eastern Ukraine has confirmed the death of ten Ukrainian paratroopers as a result of an armed clash near the town of Shakhtarsk on Thursday, July 31.
The dead bodies of eight soldiers have already been removed from the site.
“An exchange of fire between servicemen of anti-terrorist operation
forces and terrorists broke out to the north of the town of Shakhtarsk
on July 31. Our soldiers were trapped in an ambush. However, despite the
seriousness of the situation, they accepted the battle. Unfortunately,
the Ukrainian paratroopers sustained losses – ten Ukrainian soldiers
were killed,” the ATO press center said on its Facebook account on
Friday, Aug. 1.
“The Ukrainian servicemen have already been brought out of the area
of the active phase of the anti-terrorist operation. Eight bodies have
been removed. Issues concerning the transportation of the two remaining
bodies are being tackled. The situation has been complicated by the fact
that the militants are shelling the site of the armed clash all the
time, preventing the evacuation of the dead bodies. Furthermore,
specialists of the anti-terrorist operation forces are having difficulty
identifying the bodies because the militants are dressed in Ukrainian
uniforms and lack any insignia,” the press center said.
ATO headquarters press officer Oleksiy Dmytrashkivsky said earlier
today that 14 people had been killed in the July 31 shootout. Of them,
ten were identified, but the identities of the other four remain
unclear, he said.
