Ukrainian Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak has announced that 3,332 Ukrainian soldiers have died amid the war in Donbas, eastern Ukraine.
"Since the beginning of the [Russian] aggression [in April 2014], the Armed Forces of Ukraine have lost 3,332 men, including 2,394 combat casualties and 938 non-combat casualties," the Ukrainian Defense Ministry quoted the minister as saying on the ministry's website.
According to the minister, the non-combat casualties had different causes, "ranging from sickness, road accidents, and breach of safety rules to suicide, which regretfully also happens, and alcohol addiction."
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Seventy-four Ukrainian servicemen are now in captivity, Poltorak added.
As Ukrainian Military Prosecutor Anatoliy Matios announced on May 5, some 33 Ukrainian servicemen had committed suicide in Ukraine since the beginning of 2018. Most of the incidents (24) have been reported in the war zone. "Causes are different – from family problems to mental rejection of fatigue," he said.
