Officers of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, operating as part of the Joint Forces, have reported yet another case of Russian occupation forces using banned special-purpose laser weapons.
"Last night, serving at an advanced "Maryinka" checkpoint within the Donetsk-Kurakhove corridor, a serviceman of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine sustained combat injuries inflicted by militants' laser weapons. The serviceman was monitoring Ukraine's temporarily occupied territory to spot the terrorists' reconnaissance and sabotage groups. At about 17:00, looking around through an optical device, he saw a bright yellow flash sparking from the enemy fortified position and felt a sharp pain in his eyes," the SBGSU press service said.
Read alsoRussian troops in Donbas reportedly use blinding laser weapons – border guards
The serviceman was immediately rushed to a military hospital in the town of Pokrovsk, where ophthalmologists said he suffered a right eye retina burn, being hit by a laser beam.
Later, the border guard was evacuated by a military helicopter to a clinic in the city of Dnipro for further treatment. It is reported the serviceman lost 80% of sight in a right eye.
According to the report by Ukrainian border guards, this was the fifth case where Russian mercenaries employed banned special-purpose laser weapons.
During 2016–2018, another four border guards sustained similar injuries of varying severity.
