Three Ukrainian emergency services workers were killed on Saturday (Dec 24) when a mine exploded while they were demining parts of the Kherson region, said the emergency service of another region, in which they served.
“All three selflessly served in the emergency and rescue squad of the Special Purpose Unit of the State Department of Ukraine in Zhytomyr region and performed the task of demining territories liberated from the enemy in the Kherson region,” the Zhytomyr emergency service said on its Facebook page.
The Zhytomyr region is west of Kyiv, in northern Ukraine.
Russia, which invaded Ukraine 10 months ago, controls most but not all of Kherson region. By mid-November, Ukrainian forces retook Kherson city – the region’s administrative centre – and a number of settlements in the region.
Explosive experts have worked there since, after President Volodymyr Zelenskiyy said that Russian forces had heavily mined buildings and objects. They have also done so in many other areas that Ukraine has been able to retake.