You're reading: Senior Ukrainian military commander killed by landmine blast in Donbas

Colonel Yevgen Korostelyov, the commanding officer of the 128th Mountain Brigade currently deployed to the war zone of Donbas, died from landmine injuries in a Kharkiv hospital, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said early on Nov. 19.

The commander, alongside with two other officers, struck a landmine on Nov. 12 while inspecting his brigade’s area of engagement near the entry point of Novotroitske in central Donetsk Oblast some 600 kilometers southeast of Kyiv.

The incident happened just days after combat formations under his command completed a mirror-wise pullout operation in the front-line area of Petrivske several kilometers to the east.

According to the military, Colonel Korostelyov sustained extremely severe leg injuries and was immediately transported to Kharkiv for treatment.

Two days after the incident, the Defense Ministry reported him to be in stable condition after intensive care and numerous surgeries. Medics reportedly managed to salvage one of his legs, while the other had to be partially amputated.

But approximately at 4 a.m. on Nov. 19 the officer died.

“It is a great loss for us all,” the 128th Mountain Brigade said on its official Facebook page. “We feel with Colonel Korostelyov’s loved ones and share their grief.”

Korostelyov, 38, was appointed to lead the brigade just three weeks before the deadly incident of Nov. 12.

A commemoration picture posted by the 128th Mountain Brigade in memory of the formation’s commander killed in landmine blast. (128th Mountain Brigade/Ukraine's Armed Forces)

Before his final appointment, Korostelyov, a trained paratrooper, served as deputy commanding officer for artillery with the elite 25th Airborne Brigade.

He is survived by his wife and two children.

The other two officers injured alongside him are reportedly still under intense treatment in the Kharkiv hospital.

According to BBC Ukraine, Korostelyov is the third Ukrainian brigade commander to be killed in Donbas ever since the outbreak of Russia’s war in the region in spring 2014.

The first one was Colonel Pavlo Pivovarenko, the commanding officer of the 51st Mechanized Infantry Brigade, who went missing during the massacre of Ilovaisk in August 2014, but later was identified as killed through DNA analysis.

Besides, in July 2014, Colonel Oleksandr Radievskiy, the commanding officer of the National Guards 21st Public Order Enforcement Brigade, was killed in action near the city of Lysychansk.