Three dead as mini bus hits land mine in Donbas 'grey zone'

The drive way to the war-torn town of Maryinka / Photo from twitter.com/UKRinVAT

"At 07:56 local time today, a civilian Volkswagen Transporter van heading from the 'grey zone' hit a land mine about 600 meters from the Maryinka checkpoint while bypassing a queue," he said.

The vehicle's driver ignored land mine warning signs and tried to drive off to the roadside, where the minibus hit a land mine.

Five people were in the van, Zadubinny said.

"Two of them died in the blast immediately. One person died of wounds in an ambulance, which arrived from Ukrainian-controlled territory to pick up the wounded," he said.