This archive report was first published on 2 December 2019.
On December 2, 2019, a devastating explosion rocked eastern Ukraine, claiming the lives of two security officers. The Ukrainian armed forces confirmed that the men died in the blast, which occurred as Russian-backed separatists attempted to break through enemy lines.
According to the SBU security service, the deceased were Ukrainian officers who were fighting alongside the military against the pro-Russian insurgency in the east.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his condolences to the families of the deceased, stating that he was committed to achieving a ceasefire.
"We will definitely achieve a ceasefire," Zelensky wrote on Facebook. "This will be the end of children's tears, mothers' pain and loss of our brothers."
The tragic incident occurred just days before a four-way summit in Paris, where Zelensky was set to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel to discuss ways to end the conflict.
More than 13,000 people have been killed in the violence since April 2014, when the separatists declared two "people's republics" in the eastern Donetsk and Lugansk regions.
