KIEV, July 15 (RIA Novosti) — A total of 258 Ukrainian servicemen were killed and nearly a thousand injured since the start of the special operation in eastern Ukraine, the country’s National Security and Defense Council said Tuesday.
«During the whole period of the [special] operation, 258 servicemen were killed, 922 injured and 45 are in captivity at present," said Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for council.
The special operation was launched by the authorities in Kiev in mid-April in response to a wave of protests triggered by the February overthrow and a subsequent regime change in the country.
Moscow strongly condemned the operation by the special forces, which led to numerous civilian casualties, and called on the Ukrainian government to refrain from violence and end military actions.
The bloody battles between the Ukrainian Army and independence supporters in Luhansk and Donetsk regions intensified dramatically in early July, when Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko announced his decision not to extend a 10-day ceasefire.
