At least 2,280 soldiers killed in Russia’s war against Ukraine

Fighting between Ukrainian soldiers and Russian-separatist forces killed five soldiers in war-torn Donbas over the last 24 hours, the Ukrainian military reports. Two of them were the servicemen of the 92nd mechanized brigade, killed in a battle in Donetsk Oblast's Shchastya. The cities of Horlivka, Avdiivka and the ruins at Donetsk airport also remain hot spots.

Kyiv Post staff writer Olena Goncharova can be reached at

Ukrainian military said up to 2,300 Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since mid-April 2014, while 273 fighters went missing, according to Oleksy Nozdrachov, a military spokesman. “Reportedly, some 70-80 of them are being held captive, while others, unfortunately, could be dead,” Nozdrachov was quoted as saying.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said in an interview with Austrian Kurier posted on Aug. 2 that there are up to 9,000 Russian troops stationed in Donbas and some 60,000 in the occupied Crimea. The United Nations estimates more than 1.4 million people uprooted by the war, which made Ukraine one of the world’s largest populations of internally displaced people.

The following list is of those known to have been killed during the period of July 17 – Aug. 3:

July 18

Vitaliy Shafransky, 25, a soldier from Lviv Oblast. He was killed because of mortar shelling in Donetsk Oblast. He leaves a wife and three sons; the youngest one is 1-month old in his native village of Pluhiv in Lviv Oblast.

July 20

Volodymyr Tomilin, 25, a soldier from Rivne Oblast. He was mobilized to the army in March and made it to the war front in late April. He was killed in a mortar shelling near Krasnohorivka town in Donetsk Oblast. Tomilin leaves a wife and a newborn daughter in his native Malynivka village in Rivne Oblast.

Yuriy Misko, 27, a soldier of the 79th airborne brigade from Lviv Oblast. Misko was mobilized to the army in late January and had served for Chop city border unit. He volunteered to go to the war front. Misko was killed because of the grenade explosion near the village of Portovske in Donetsk Oblast. He leaves a family in a Turka town in Lviv Oblast.

July 22

Mykola Hordyichuk, 29, a police officer of Garpun special unit from Khmelnytsky Oblast. He graduated from the local university in Kamianets-Podilsky city and got a major in psychology. Hordyichuk was also a member of Ukrainian Scouting Plast organization and later made it to Kyiv to take part in the EuroMaidan Revolution. He wanted to become a professional serviceman as his father. Hordyichuk volunteered to go to the war zone in April. He was badly wounded near Shakhta checkpoint en route to Avdiivka in Donetsk Oblast. He died on his way to the hospital.

July 23

Andry Zaets, 27, a soldier of the 128th mechanized brigade from Volyn Oblast. Zaets made it to the war zone in October. He visited his family twice on vacation. “The last time he confessed that he had been dating a woman who’s a volunteer from Donetsk Oblast, Mykola Vavrenchuk, the head of the local rural council, said during the mourning. “They wanted to get married.” He had been serving in the east for almost a year and planned to be demobilized in August. Zaets was killed near Stanytsya Luhanska village with a shrapnel as Russian-separatists forces opened fire on the positions of Ukrainian army. He leaves his parents in Dorosyn village in Volyn Oblast.

Yevheny Biryukov, 34, a police officer of the Grapun special unit from Kyiv Oblast. He joined the unit in December and was badly wounded near the Shakhta checkpoint in Donetsk Oblast, close to Aviidvka. He died in one of the Dnipropetrovsk city hospitals. Biryukov leaves a wife and two children in a city of Konotop in Sumy Oblast.

July 24

Vitaly Sapehin, 38, a soldier of the 93rd mechanized brigade from Sumy Oblast. He was mobilized to the army in April. Sapehin was killed as he stepped on a land mine near the ruins of Donetsk airport. He leaves a wife and a 10-year-old son in Sumy.

July 25

Ihor Osykin, 44, a soldier of the 93rd mechanized brigade from Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. He joined the brigade in March and was killed in Donetsk Oblast. Osykin leaves a family in a city of Kryvy Rih in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.

July 26

Stanislav Dusha, 31, a soldier of the 57th motorized brigade from Poltava Oblast. Dusha ran his construction business; he was mobilized to the army in May. He was killed near Horlivka as his military vehicle hit a land mine. Dusha leaves a wife and a daughter in Kremenchuk.

Vasyl Tsurkan, 36, a soldier of the 93rd mechanized brigade from Cherkasy Oblast. He was mobilized to the army in late January. The volunteers reported that Tsurkan was killed as his vehicle hit a land mine near Pisky in Donetsk Oblast. He leaves a wife and two sons in Cherpovody village in Cherkasy Oblast.

July 27

Valery Chepiha, 35, a soldier of the 30th mechanized brigade from Sumy Oblast. Chepiha had been working as a miner for the last five years, but resigned when the war in the east of Ukraine started. He was killed during the mortar shelling in Artemivsk district in Donetsk Oblast.

July 29

Yuriy Kovalchuk, 24, a soldier of the 57th brigade from Zhytomyr Oblast. He was mobilized to the army in August 2014. He was badly wounded during the battle for the city of Horlivka in Donetsk Oblast on July 22. He died after a week in coma in Dnipropetrovsk city hospital. Kovalchuk leaves a wife and a 1-year-old son.

July 30

Volodymyr Hrytsenko, 26, a soldier of the 43rd motorized brigade from Ternopil Oblast. He was mobilized to the army in April. He was the only son in his family. “When he was leaving for the army his mother cried badly, she said that she’ll be all alone, because her son was the only one left in her life,” Olha Kotovska, Hrytsenko’s friend, was quoted as saying. “He was a great young man – kind and helpful.” Hrytsenko was badly wounded in his limb near Novhorodske village in Donetsk Oblast. He leaves his mother in Ostashivtsi village in Ternopil Oblast.

July 31

Hryhory Matyash, 26, a soldier of Dnipro-1 Regiment from Chernihiv Oblast. Matyash learned basic blacksmithing and it became his hobby. He volunteered to the army in 2014 and made it to the war zone later in summer. His comrades recalled Matyash was a “great serviceman.” He was killed during the mortar shelling near Pisky. Matyash leaves his parents in Pryluky.

Yuriy Dmytriev, 50, a soldier of the Dnipro-1 Regiment from Zaporizhya Oblast. He worked for the local police department in Zaporizhya Oblast for 16 years. He volunteered to go to the front line in summer 2014. Dmytriev was badly wounded near Pisky in Donetsk Oblast and ended up in one of Dnipropetrovsk city hospitals. He leaves a wife in Vilnyavsk town.

Aug. 1

Oleh Pohonchuk, 20, a soldier from Lviv Oblast. Pohonchuk’s friends recalled he asked his parents not to discourage him from going to the army. He was killed at the checkpoint in Donetsk Oblast. Pohonchuk leaves his parents in the town of Zhukiv in Lviv Oblast.

Aug. 3

Oleksandr Pavlyuk, 47, a soldier of the 128th mechanized brigade from Zakarpattya Oblast. He was killed during the mortar shelling near Stanytsia Luhanska village. Pavlyuk leaves a wife and two children in a city of Mukacheve.