A former British soldier has died fighting Russian forces in the Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk, his family said.
Jordan Gatley left the British army in March “to continue his career as a soldier in other areas” and had been helping Ukrainian troops defend his country against Russia, his father Dean wrote in a statement on Saturday. Facebook.
“It simply came to our notice then [10/06/22] We received the devastating news that our son, Jordan, had been shot dead in the city of Severodonetsk, Ukraine … He loved his job and we are very proud of him. He was truly a hero and will be in our hearts forever, “the statement said.
Gatley was killed in the battle for the key strategic city in the eastern Donbas region of Ukraine, where fighting has been intense in recent days.
He is believed to be the second Briton to die during the Ukrainian war. Tributes were paid in April to Scott Sibley, a British military veteran believed to have died fighting Russian troops.
The Gatley family statement said: “We have received several messages from his team telling us about his wealth of knowledge, his skills as a soldier and his love for his work.
“His team says that everyone loved him, just like us, and that he made a big difference in the lives of many people, not only as soldiers, but also by training Ukrainian forces.”
A Foreign Ministry spokesman said: “We are supporting the family of a British man who has died in Ukraine.”
Kyiv has acknowledged over the past week that it is suffering heavy losses in the assault on Russia in the east.
Thousands of foreigners are believed to have entered Ukraine after the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, announced the creation of an international legion of foreign volunteers in the early days of Russia’s invasion. A significant number are believed to be citizens of the United Kingdom, although the British Armed Forces urged the British not to go to the country.
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Two British men and a Moroccan man captured while fighting with the Ukrainian army in Mariupol were sentenced to death by pro-Russian officials in what was described as a “disgusting Soviet-era trial”.
The Russian state media have presented them as mercenaries, and the court condemned them for doing so despite evidence that the three men were serving in the Ukrainian navy and should therefore be protected by the Geneva Conventions on Prisoners. of war.
Denis Pushilin, the head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic where the three foreigners were tried, said on Sunday that no mercy should be shown. British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss called the verdict “false” with “absolutely no legitimacy”.
In a separate case, Russia said former Royal Marine Ben Grant had helped kill a Chechen brigade commander in Ukraine after images of British national fighting in the country appeared.
Grant, who has not been captured, is the son of Conservative MP Helen Grant. Earlier, he told British media that he was part of a unit of 15 British and American volunteers who had been preparing for an assault on Russian targets in the Kharkiv area.