An American who went to fight in Ukraine against Russian forces has been killed, according to members of his family, the Pentagon warning on Friday American nationals tempted to go into the field of this deadly conflict.
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Willy Joseph Cancel, who was reportedly killed on Monday at the age of 22, arrived in Ukraine in mid-March, his mother Rebecca Cabrera told CNN.
“We continue to urge the Americans not to go to Ukraine”, launched, also on CNN, the spokesman of the Pentagon John Kirby, who evoked a news “upsetting” and supported the family of the killed .
“It’s an ongoing war zone…it’s not a place the Americans should be going to,” he repeated.
“He wanted to go there because he believed in what Ukraine is fighting for, and he wanted to be part of it in order to contain (the threat) there and that it does not reach here”, confided Rebecca Cabrera about her son.
The young man leaves a wife and a child of 7 months, according to the American press. His wife Brittany Cancel confirmed his death in a statement sent to several American media, highlighting the “courage” of her husband, a “hero”.
A former Marine, he joined a private paramilitary company and volunteered to join Ukraine.
A British national has also been killed in Ukraine, and another is missing, a British Foreign Office spokesman confirmed on Thursday.
Both men were also fighting as volunteers with the Ukrainian army, according to British media.
Shortly after Russia invaded his country on February 24, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called for the formation of an “international legion” of foreign volunteers to help him defend Ukraine.
In early March, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kouleba mentioned the figure of around 20,000 foreign volunteers who had joined the country at war.