Donetsk People’s Republic says ready to transfer remains of Americans killed in Ukraine

Morozova said the American was killed on Tuesday while fighting in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine. Her body was transferred to a DPR morgue, Morozova said.

The DPR, a self-proclaimed breakaway region backed by Russia, said it had informed US officials and the head of the UN human rights monitoring mission, and “we confirm our willingness to hand over his remains to his relatives. for her to be buried,” according to Morozova.

“I would like to reiterate that mercenaries are not considered combatants and that international humanitarian laws do not apply in their case. These individuals are deprived of all immunity during combat,” she said.

“I strongly recommend that any foreign national who has come to Ukraine for militaristic purposes immediately leave the territory of the said country. Otherwise, no one will be held responsible for their life and safety.”

While the Russian media revealed the name of this American, the State Department did not reveal his identity.

“We can confirm the death of a US citizen in Ukraine,” a State Department spokesperson said.

“Out of respect for the family’s privacy, we have no further comment at this time,” the spokesperson added.

He is at least the third American citizen to die in the invasion.

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

Two American volunteers fighting for Ukraine have been detained by Russian-backed separatists in Donetsk. US citizens Alexander John-Robert Drueke, 39, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, 27, of Hartselle, Alabama, had fought alongside Ukrainian forces north of Kharkiv before being captured.

CNN has reported that a third US Navy veteran, Grady Kurpasi, is missing. The last time his wife and close friends had heard from Kurpasi was in April. He chose to volunteer alongside Ukrainians in Ukraine, but initially didn’t see himself fighting on the front lines, a family friend told CNN.

In June, a DPR court also sentenced two British citizens and a Moroccan national to death after accusing them of being “mercenaries” for Ukraine, state media RIA Novosti reported at the time.

Aiden Aslin, Shaun Pinner and Brahim Saadoune were foreign fighters captured in the Ukrainian city of Mariupol by Russian forces in April.

Pinner’s family later said they were “devastated” that he “must be granted all the rights of a prisoner of war” under the Geneva Conventions.

A month later, two more Britons were charged with “mercenaries”, the Donetsk news agency reported at the time.

Russia is the only country that considers the DPR to be independent. The international community does not recognize the region and its institutions and considers the territory to be part of Ukraine. Independent watchdog groups have long accused the separatists of a dismal human rights record and prisoner mistreatment.

CNN’s Ivana Kottasová, Oleksandra Ochman, Jonny Hallam, Uliana Pavlova, Anna Chernova, Sharon Braithwaite, Jorge Engels, Josh Pennington and Arnaud Siad contributed reporting for this story.