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Photo Ukrinform
Four years ago already, the first Ukrainian soldier was killed in the war with Russia. Serhiy Kokurin died during the storming of a Ukrainian Military Institution in Simferopol, Crimea, killed by a sniper shot.
He was on the observation tower when he was shot in the heart by Russian-led militants – only two weeks prior to the birth of his second child. Serhiy Kokurin was posthumously awarded with the order ‘For Courage.’
We estimate the number of casualties since the beginning of the conflict in Eastern Ukraine to be at more than 10,500 people, nearly 3,000 of them being civilians.
The attemps to a peaceful resolution of the conflict have all failed so far despite the involvement of major international players such as France and Germany in the Normandy Format.
The Russian backed separatists are still being provided with both equipment and manpower from Moscow in order to keep hold of parts of the Donbas and Luhansk regions.
Recently, discussions of an eventual UN mandated peacekeeping mission in the conflicted area of Eastern Ukraine have been happening, especially during the late International Security Conference held in Munich, Germany, in February 2018.
However, the situation remains tense and exchange of fire continues to occur on a daily basis between Ukrainian soldiers and separatist forces; four years after the death of Serhiy Kokurin, not much has evolved, and the conflict shows no signs of ending.
