Shelling in Luhansk Oblast has killed two elite Ukrainian security agents and left another seriously wounded, according to Ukraine’s Security Service, or SBU.
The three agents belonged to the SBU’s special Alpha Group. They came under artillery shelling while conducting an operation at the front line in Luhansk Oblast, fighting Russian-led separatists as part of the government’s Joint Forces, spokesperson Olena Hitlyanska wrote on Facebook on May 27.
“The SBU expresses its condolences to the families and friends of the fallen Lieutenant Colonel Ruslan Mulyar and Warrant Officer Yury Zhuravlev,” Hitlyanska said.
She also quoted SBU head Vasyl Hrytsak as saying that law enforcement will ensure that the families of the victims will “not be alone.”
Alpha is a special tactical assault group under the SBU, a successor to the Soviet Union’s Alpha Group, which is currently used by the Ukrainian government to fight against Russia-backed separatist forces in the Donbas.
Back in 2014, the Alpha Group faced allegations that it was involved in shooting at protesters during the EuroMaidan Revolution, something the unit has always denied.
That same year, Russian media released shocking photos and videos of three men in their underwear, bruised, blindfolded, and covered in blood. According to the Russian media, they were three Alpha Group officers who had been captured in the city of Horlivka in Donetsk Oblast.
The men were reportedly on a mission to conduct surveillance of and possibly arrest alleged Russian Military Intelligence Lieutenant-Colonel Igor Bezler, who was suspected of involvement in the murder of a local city councilman. It remains unknown what happened to the officers after they were captured.
