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A former Tucson paramedic died Sunday while working as a monitor of the crisis in Ukraine.

Joseph Stone, 36, worked for the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which identified him as the victim of an explosion that hit an armored vehicle in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine. Two other OSCE workers were hospitalized.

The OSCE monitoring mission is made up of unarmed civilians from various countries who observe and report on activity in Ukraine and help foster dialogue among the parties fighting each other.

Before working with aid groups in countries like Afghanistan, Liberia, and Ukraine, Stone grew up in Tucson, graduated from Pima Community College and worked for nine years as a paramedic, said his brother Matthew, 34.

The world really did lose something special on April 23, Matthew Stone said.

In recent years, Joseph worked near war zones, but Ukraine was the first time he had worked inside an active war zone, Stone said.

He always downplayed the danger of it, but it was there, Stone said.

The OSCE started a special monitoring mission in Ukraine in 2014 when the president was ousted from office and Russia took control of the Crimean Peninsula. Since then, nationalist forces in western Ukraine have battled rebel forces in the eastern portion of the country, which is more ethnically Russian.

Nearly 10,000 people have been killed in the conflict, the United Nations reported in December.

The area around Luhansk where Stone was killed is one of the few areas still controlled by rebels.

Stone was the first OSCE worker to die as part of the monitoring mission. His death sparked calls from a wide range of governments and agencies for an investigation into the explosion.

Matthew Stone said international agencies are doing everything they can and was thankful to hear expressions of outrage about his brothers death from Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany and British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson, among others.

The U.S. State Department issued a statement saying it was shocked and deeply saddened by Stones death, which underscores the increasingly dangerous conditions under which these courageous monitors work, including access restrictions, threats, and harassment.

The statement urged Russia to use its influence with the separatists to allow the OSCE to conduct a full, transparent, and timely investigation.

The chief of the OSCE mission in Ukraine, Ertugrul Apakan, said in an April 24 statement the mission was filled with great sorrow at Stones death.

Apakan said the explosion was likely a mine. He called for a sustainable cease-fire, withdrawal of weapons, full de-mining and real commitment to peace. And I ask that those responsible for placing mines are held accountable.

An online fundraising campaign to help pay for the funeral and other expenses raised $5,800 two days.

Stone is survived by his 13-year-old son, a longtime girlfriend, two brothers and his mother.

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Tucsonan killed while monitoring conflict in Ukraine | Local news ... - Arizona Daily Star

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has compared the April 26, 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster with the ongoing crisis in Ukraine's east, adding that "Russia is conducting an undeclared war against his country."

Poroshenko spoke at the defunct nuclear power plant, where he and Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka lamented the "unhealing wound" inflicted by the Soviet-era accident 31 years ago and commemorated its victims.

"We again have buried thousands of people. Again we have hundreds of thousands of displaced people," Poroshenko said, referring to the conflict with Russia-backed separatists that has killed more than 9,900 people in eastern Ukraine since 2014.

"I am confident that together, we will defeat that demon as well," he said.

Lukashenka voiced solidarity, saying that "Belarusians are and will always be your reliable friends" -- a tacit reassurance that while Belarus is Russia's ally, it is also wary of Moscow and does not support Russia's infringements on Ukraine's territorial integrity.

Reactor No. 4 at the power plant north of Kyiv, in then-Soviet Ukraine exploded at 1:23 a.m. on April 26, 1986, after a safety test went wrong.

About 30 people died in the immediate aftermath and thousands more are feared to have died in the years that followed from the effects of the disaster, which spread radiation across parts of Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, and large swaths of Europe.

PHOTO GALLERY: Russian Photographer Recalls Death, Beauty Inside Chernobyl's Fourth Reactor (Click To Open)

The precise number of victims and extent of the damage remains the subject of debate, in part because the Soviet authorities took days to publicly acknowledge the disaster and kept information hidden.

Last year, the crumbling "sarcophagus" used to contain radiation from the smoldering reactor at the time was replaced with a 2.3-billion-dollar metal dome in a bid to stop future leaks. More than 200 tons of uranium remain buried inside.

Two years before the Soviet Union withdrew its troops from Afghanistan following a losing war of occupation, the Chernobyl disaster was in retrospect another sign of the weaknesses of the communist giant that collapsed in 1991.

Poroshenko called it "an unhealing wound that we live with as a people."

"Perhaps more than anyone else, the Chernobyl tragedy affected our Belarusian brothers," he said, referring to the fact that winds blew radiation northward into Belarus, where some its strongest effects were felt.

"Both Belarusians and Ukrainians know that the Chernobyl catastrophe knows no borders," Lukashenka said.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Hroysman paid tribute to the Chernobyl "liquidators" -- emergency workers, state employees, and others sent into clean up after the disaster with little or no preparation, protective gear, or information about the gruesome dangers they faced.

"Thank you to the heroes who, at the expense of their own lives and health, protected us from the horrible consequences of this tragedy," Hroysman wrote on Facebook.

Meanwhile, some 400 protesters marched in Minsk on April 26 to protest the construction of a nuclear power plant in the Ostrovets district of the western Hrodno region, RFE/RL's Belarus Service reported.

The first unit of the plant, being built in conjunction with Russia's Atomstroyexport, is due to be finished in 2019.

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Poroshenko Compares Chernobyl's 'Unhealing Wound' With East Ukraine War - RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty

USA TODAY

Land Mine Kills American on Monitoring Mission in Ukraine New York Times A member of the European monitoring mission in eastern Ukraine was killed and two others were injured Sunday when their vehicle drove over a mine near Luhansk. The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which runs the monitoring ... Blast kills American on international monitoring mission in eastern UkraineUSA TODAY American Killed as Monitoring Mission In Ukraine Suffers First DeathNewsweek American monitor killed in Ukraine when mine hits vehicleThe Boston Globe BBC News -Eyewitness News -Tristatehomepage.com all 153 news articles »

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Land Mine Kills American on Monitoring Mission in Ukraine - New York Times

The first round of French presidential elections dominated the headlines this weekend, but the world continued to spin miles away from Paris.

In Ukraine on Sunday, an American paramedic working with the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe was killed in eastern Ukraine when his vehicle hit a mine. Two others were injured. This is the first death of an OSCE official in the war in Ukraine that has taken over 10,000 lives.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko expressed his condolences to Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who reiterated the United States firm commitment to Ukraines sovereignty and territorial integrity. In a statement, State Department acting spokesperson Mark Toner called on Russia to use its influence with the [Russian-backed] separatists to allow for a timely investigation into the death. Toner also urged Russia to use that same influence to encourage the separatists to take the first step toward peace to eastern Ukraine and ensure a visible, verifiable, and irreversible improvement in the security situation.

Russia, for its part, said the circumstances surrounding the death indicated it was likely a provocation.

But Russias seemingly immutable stance on eastern Ukraine is not the only one to watch from the Kremlin this week. On April 17, federal prosecutors launched an investigation into media reports on the alleged abduction, torture, and killing of gay men in Chechnya. On Monday, however, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the European Unions report on alleged violations of rights of gay men in Chechnya must be based on facts. Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitri Peskov said theres no reason to doubt Chechnyas leader, Ramzan Kadyrov, when he said there were no abuses of gay people in Chechnya.

How, or whether, the international community responds is still to be seen. On Monday, Mogherini said the EU is ready to return to working strategically with Russia.

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump, nearing his 100 day mark, spent the weekend tweeting on the importance of jobs in the face of drastic environmental change; Mexicos alleged eventual payment for a border wall; and polls.

Vice President Mike Pence, who cut his trip to the Pacific short to deal with domestic matters, spent the weekend undoing damage Trump did with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull shortly after his inauguration, reaffirming the refugee deal between the United States and Australia that set Trump off in the first place.

Photo credit:ALEKSEY FILIPPOV/AFP/Getty Images

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American Killed in Ukraine, Kremlin Coy on Alleged Abuses of Gay Chechens: The Weekend Behind, the Week Ahead - Foreign Policy (blog)

If you havent seen on social media the #CFL has landed in Ukraine! We had the opportunity to visit Canadian troops who are stationed here and had an unbelievable day. I have never felt prouder to be Canadian and can say without hesitation this trip has been profound and frankly overwhelming at times. More on that in another post, but let me take you though what we had a chance to experience. Our day began with a bus ride to the base where we were greeted by a group of our soldiers. They had setup a room for us where they had laid out all sorts of equipment, primarily guns (without ammo of course), for us to pickup and hold and they answered any questions we had- and there we many. Please note that if my camera skills look off in the photos or videos from today, we are not allowed to show the faces of most of the troops on this base in order to protect their identity.

Then we were given a briefing on Operation Unifier, this is the what approximately 200 Canadian Armed Forces are working on in Ukraine. Essentially Canadians are there to help train the Ukrainian army to help it reach NATO standards, but please take some time to read more about Operation Unifier here. From there we went to lunch, where we were served a traditional Ukrainian meal. Eating together (lunch and dinner) with the troops was easily one of my favourite parts of the day.Sharing such a normal moment under suchunusual circumstances with our troops was surprisingly introspective and layered with emotion.

Following our meal we had a chance to host a group of our military on the football field! Yes, CFL footballs were sent over and they were flying around! This was what the players had been looking forward to (please go check out our Instagram story and SnapChat to take a look) The players were awesome coaches, breaking themselves into five groups by position and having the troops rotate through stations of position specific football drills and skills. At the very end we had a pseudo special teams competition where the troops would try and catch a punt, being eliminated if they missed and the winner won a signed Stamps jersey! Watching the troops and our players cheer on the person trying to catch, hanging onto every movement until the person would catch, or drop. If successful everyone would erupt in whoops and applause and high fivesit was like something out of a movie.

From there we toured the base itself, which was an experience I will never forget. We had a chance to check out the Canadian gym, Canada house (where the guys hang out), some of the facilities and their living quarters. This was perhaps the most eye opening experience of the day. Men and women are stationed here for eight months and they almost all live in these MASSIVE bunk rooms, where each row has about eight sets of bunk beds. The troops have made makeshift privacy curtains by hanging sheets over wire and all of their personal belongings are jammed into this one tiny area. I didnt feel comfortable taking photos of this, it felt too personal. But there was one soldier who was proudly wearing his Saskatchewan Roughrider flip flops, so I asked is I could snap a picture and he happily agreed (Rider Nation you are EVERYWHERE)

After sharing dinner with our troops we spent the evening in the auditorium for an awesome night! The Grey Cup arrived and was welcomed by a long and rousing applause. It was a moment another I will never forget. The amazing Sara Orlesky from TSN hosted the evening which started by introducing the #CFL players on the trip. As each player was called up they drew a name of one of the troops to win a CFL prize; signed footballs, jerseys, t-shirts, ball caps and the troops LOVED it! Then we were all treated to an amazing show by Canadian country phenom Dallas Smith and laughed and laughed thanks to comedian John Sheehan.

Its about 1:30am and we have another exciting day tomorrow so I am off to bed! Thank you for reading and please continue to follow all @CFL social accounts for more from our trip and if youd like to get in touch with me directly @BrodieLawson on Instagram and Twitter.

Some More Pictures from the Day:

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Stop #1: The CFL Visits Our Troops In Ukraine - CFL.ca