State Department confirms death of another US citizen in Ukraine

Russian claims the deceased is a 24-year-old man from Tennessee who had gone to Ukraine and enrolled as a volunteer fighter in July

The US State Department has confirmed the death of another US citizen in Ukraine, marking at least the seventh American killed in the country in the six months since Russia declared war.

A spokesperson confirmed the death to Newsweek on Friday but said that they had “no further comment” at this time “out of respect for the privacy of the family”.

While the agency has not released the identity or the circumstances surrounding the American’s death, Russian officials posted an image of what they claimed to be the man’s passport on social media platform Telegram.

Oleg Kozhemyako, governor of Russia’s far eastern Primorsky Krai region, said that he was a 24-year-old man from Tennessee who had gone to Ukraine and enrolled as a volunteer fighter with the Ukrainian military back in July.

The Independent has reached out to the State Department for confirmation.

On Saturday, an official with the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) said that the US national was killed in combat in the Kharkiv region on Tuesday.

Darya Morozova, ombudsperson for DPR – which has declared itself a Russian-backed independent region but is recognised as part of Ukraine – said on Telegram that officials had notified both US officials and the UN monitoring mission in Ukraine Matilda Bogner about the volunteer fighter’s death.

Ms Morozova said that he had been transferred to a mortuary in the DPR and that officials were ready to hand over the body to relatives, Russian state media TASS reported.

“I want to reiterate that mercenaries are not being considered as combatants and the international humanitarian laws are not valid in their cases. These individuals are stripped of any immunity during the fighting,” she said.

“I strongly recommend that any foreign nationals who came to Ukraine with militaristic purposes immediately leave the territory of the said country.

“Otherwise nobody will be held responsible for their lives and security.”

At least six other American citizens have been killed in Ukraine since Russia invaded Ukraine back on 24 February.

The aftermath of shelling in the small city of Derhachi near Kharkiv on Friday (EPA)

The families of Luke Lucyszyn and Bryan Young confirmed in July that they had both been killed fighting in eastern Ukraine.

This came after Stephen Zabierslki was killed in May and Marine Corps veteran Willy Cancel in April.

The latest US death on Ukrainian soil comes the same week that a US diplomat who worked at the US Embassy in Kyiv was killed in a bike crash in Maryland.

Sarah Joan Langenkamp, a 42-year-old State Department employee who worked as head of the International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Section at the embassy in the Ukrainian capital, was struck by a flatbed truck while riding her bike in Bethseda on Thursday.

Police said she was run over by the truck and was pronounced dead at the scene.

State Department spokesperson Ned Price confirmed her death on Twitter.

“Our hearts are broken after the tragic and sudden death of our colleague Sarah Langenkamp. Our thoughts are with her family — including her husband, a fellow beloved colleague, and their children — as well as all of her many friends and loved ones,” he tweeted.