UK volunteers die in eastern Ukraine while helping with humanitarian evacuation, family says
British volunteers Chris Parry, left, and Andrew Bagshaw. (Archyde.com)
British volunteers Chris Parry and Andrew Bagshaw died during a humanitarian evacuation mission in the eastern Ukrainian town of Soledar, according to a statement from the Parry family, published Tuesday by the UK Foreign Office. Bagshaw had dual New Zealand citizenship.
“It is with great sadness that we have to announce that our beloved Chrissy was killed along with her colleague Andrew Bagshaw while attempting a humanitarian evacuation from Soledar in eastern Ukraine,” the Parry family statement said. “His selfless determination to help the elderly, the young and the underprivileged has made us and his extended family proud.”
“We never imagined that we would say goodbye to Chris when he had such a full life ahead of him. He was a loving son, a fantastic brother, the best friend to many and a loving partner to Olga,” the statement added.
“He was drawn to Ukraine in March at its darkest hour at the start of the Russian invasion and helped those most in need, saving more than 400 lives and many stray animals. Words cannot express how much he will be missed, but he will be forever.” in our hearts,” he said.
“We feel so privileged that you have chosen our family to be a part of it,” read the statement, which was signed by family members Rob, Christine and Katy Parry.
The UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office requested privacy for the family at this time.
More about this case: The families of both men previously said that the two had gone to Ukraine to work as humanitarian volunteers. CNN has seen no evidence that they took part in the hostilities in Ukraine.
On January 9, Ukrainian police reported that they were looking for Bagshaw and Parry. Ukrainian police said the two Britons “left Kramatorsk for Soledar” — the scene of recent heavy fighting — “and contact with them was lost,” CNN previously reported.
CNN’s Seb Shukla, Mick Krever, Anna Chernova and Eve Brennan contributed to this article.