Ukrainian soldier killed at border with Belarus, investigation launched

Serhii Panasiuk, a 33-year-old soldier of the Territorial Defence Forces of Volyn Oblast, was killed at the Ukrainian-Belarusian border during a combat task. All the circumstances of his death are currently being investigated. 

Source: Serhii Khominskyi, spokesperson for the Territorial Defence Forces of Volyn Oblast, in a comment to Suspilne media outlet 

Details: A funeral of Serhii Panasiuk, who was a junior sergeant, was held on 26 February 2023, in the village of Siltse, Ratne hromada, Volyn Oblast [hromada is an administrative unit designating, in this case the town of Ratne and its adjacent territories – ed.]. 

Khominskyi has said that Panasiuk was killed at the crack of dawn on 25 February 2023. It is currently being established and clarified under what circumstances this happened. "Law enforcement agencies are in charge of the investigation; relevant units of the brigade are also conducting an internal investigation themselves," Khominskyi stated. 

Serhii Panasiuk was a soldier who went through the ATO [The ATO or Anti-Terrorist Operation is a term used from 2014 to 2018 by the media, the government of Ukraine and the OSCE to identify combat actions in parts of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts against Russian military forces and pro-Russian separatists – ed.]. He joined the Territorial Defence Forces during the first days of the full-scale invasion. He was the commander of a motor rifle platoon. He had a daughter and a son. 

Unverified information that there was allegedly a hostile shooting from Belarus appeared online. The State Border Committee of Belarus has denied that there was a shooting from their side. 

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