At Least 3 Civilians Killed in Landmine Explosion in Eastern Ukraine
KYIV – At least three civilians were killed on Wednesday when their minibus passed over a landmine in eastern Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian military command.
The incident took place early in the morning near a government checkpoint in Marinka village, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) west of Donetsk, the main stronghold of the pro-Russian separatist militias.
The press office of the Ukrainian military deployed in the conflict zone said that the vehicle tried to overtake other vehicles waiting their turn to pass the checkpoint, despite the landmine warning signs.
Two people were killed instantly and a third died while being transferred to a hospital, a spokesman for the Ukrainian command told the digital newspaper Ukrainska Pravda.
More than 9,000 people, both combatants and civilians, have been killed in eastern Ukraine in the two-year conflict, according to the United Nations.