KYIV. April 15 (Interfax) - A mortar has exploded during the scheduled shooting practice at a Ukrainian military training range in the Donetsk Region, the press service for the State Bureau of Investigations said.
According to preliminary information, the blast went off at about 11:40 a.m. on April 14.
"The explosion killed a 24-year-old senior soldier of the special force company of the special operations detachment. Eight servicemen who were not far from the mortar sustained injuries varying in severity," the statement said.
The scene of the incident is being searched, participants and eyewitnesses of the incident are being interrogated, and investigative experiments are being carried out. Petitions for scheduling relevant forensic studies are being prepared.
A criminal case was launched into the death of a contract serviceman and the injuries sustained by eight servicemen of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the charge of violating the rules of handling arms, the Prosecutor General's Office said.
Detectives from Kramatorsk's SBI territorial department are carrying out the investigation, the military prosecutor's office of the Donetsk garrison of the military prosecutor's office of the Joint Forces are pursuing procedural supervision.
Two Ukrainian servicemen were injured in the shell attacks in Donbas, the Joint Forces Operation said on its Facebook account.