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Four Ukrainian Marines killed by fellow servicemen

In a region of Donetsk territory under Ukrainian government control, four naval infantrymen were killed by their fellow Marines during an alcohol related incident. Ukraine’s press center released the following statement, “Representatives of the military law enforcement service of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the National Police of Ukraine are investigating the causes and details of the death of servicemen of a naval infantry brigade. According to preliminary information, the bodies of the marines were found in the house in which they temporarily lived. Criminal proceedings have been opened within the framework of the investigation.”

According to an anonymous source from the area, the crime was perpetuated by two Marines from the same unit armed with Kalashnikov service rifles. The Marines belonged to A-2802, a unit based out of the small city of Berdyansk. Spokesperson for the prosecuting General’s Office of Ukraine, Andriy Lysenko, assured that both men had been arrested and were under investigation. It has yet to be determined if the Marines were separatist supporters/infiltrators or if the incident purely stemmed from alcohol and a personal dispute.

Ukraine’s ATO (Anti Terrorism Office) has handled the brunt of the leg work for the incident. The ATO began operations under the SBU (Ukrainian Security Service) in an effort to police separatist activity after the Euromaidan Revolution that started in April 2014. The “revolution” has led to major reformation in Ukrainian government as well as massive movements of separatist organizations that were hastily supported by the Russian Military. Russia invaded the Crimean peninsula not long after this began under a proxy force of mercenaries and Russian military Special Operation advisers.

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In a region of Donetsk territory under Ukrainian government control, four naval infantrymen were killed by their fellow Marines during an alcohol related incident. Ukraine’s press center released the following statement, “Representatives of the military law enforcement service of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the National Police of Ukraine are investigating the causes and details of the death of servicemen of a naval infantry brigade. According to preliminary information, the bodies of the marines were found in the house in which they temporarily lived. Criminal proceedings have been opened within the framework of the investigation.”

According to an anonymous source from the area, the crime was perpetuated by two Marines from the same unit armed with Kalashnikov service rifles. The Marines belonged to A-2802, a unit based out of the small city of Berdyansk. Spokesperson for the prosecuting General’s Office of Ukraine, Andriy Lysenko, assured that both men had been arrested and were under investigation. It has yet to be determined if the Marines were separatist supporters/infiltrators or if the incident purely stemmed from alcohol and a personal dispute.

Ukraine’s ATO (Anti Terrorism Office) has handled the brunt of the leg work for the incident. The ATO began operations under the SBU (Ukrainian Security Service) in an effort to police separatist activity after the Euromaidan Revolution that started in April 2014. The “revolution” has led to major reformation in Ukrainian government as well as massive movements of separatist organizations that were hastily supported by the Russian Military. Russia invaded the Crimean peninsula not long after this began under a proxy force of mercenaries and Russian military Special Operation advisers.

Ukraine has undergone several ceasefires over the course of the conflict and has slowly received military aid in the form of NATO military advisers and is set to receive weapons from the United States as well. The conflict between Ukraine and Russia is a long standing cold war gone hot with little in the way of restraint. It remains to be seen if any form of dispute resolution will ever take place given the tempo the clash has stuck to for its duration.

Featured Image Courtesy of LCpl M.A. Sunderland, U.S. Marine Corps [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

About Kurt T View All Posts

Spent 4 years with the United States Marine Corps and an additional 3 years with the Kurdish Peshmerga and Ukrainian Army.

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