17:16 15.01.2016

Nearly 180 Ukrainian National Guard soldiers killed in Donbas since armed conflict began

2 min read
Nearly 180 Ukrainian National Guard soldiers killed in Donbas since armed conflict began

A total of 178 military service members of the Ukrainian National Guard have been killed since the authorities in Kyiv launched the anti-terrorist operation in Donbas, said Valeriy Shandursky, who is in charge of personnel at the National Guard.

Also, 735 national guards were injured, 24 went missing, and six are being held captive by militants, he said at a briefing in Kyiv on Friday.

A total of 158 families of the dead soldiers were paid lump-sum compensations totaling UAH 95,562,000; those with injuries and heavy injuries have been paid in total UAH 25,571,000. "There are no arrears on the payouts," the National Guard official stressed.

Around 400 military service members of the National Guard have undergone rehabilitation, Shandursky said. "With the assistance from public organizations and embassies, 48 military service members underwent rehabilitation abroad," he said.

All military service members who lost limbs have received prosthetic ones, three more are expected to receive prostheses before the middle of 2016, he said.

The status of a combatant has already been assigned to 18,818 military service members. "That is 84.1% of the entire military personnel of the National Guard," he said.

In March 2014 Verkhovna Rada passed a law creating the National Guard of Ukraine as a military branch of the Interior Ministry with law enforcement duties. The anti-terrorist operation in eastern Ukraine began in mid-April 2014.

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