A former British soldier has died in battles with Russian forces in the Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk, his family said.
Jordan Gatley left the British Army in March “to pursue a career as a soldier in other areas” and helped Ukrainian troops defend their country against Russia, his father Dean said in a statement posted on Facebook on Saturday.
“Yesterday [10/06/22] we received the devastating news that our son Jordan was shot and killed in the city of Severodonetsk, Ukraine … He loved his job and we are so proud of him. He really was a hero and will be in our hearts forever. ” the statement said.
Gatli died in the battle for the key strategic city in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbass, where fighting has been intense in recent days.
He is believed to be the second Briton killed during the war in Ukraine. In April, Scott Sibley, a British military veteran believed to have died in battles with Russian troops, was honored.
A statement from Gatley’s family said: “We had several messages from his team there telling us about his wealth of knowledge, his skills as a soldier and his love of his job.
“His team says that everyone loves him as much as we do, and he has made a huge difference in the lives of many people, not only as soldiers, but also through the training of Ukrainian forces.
A foreign ministry spokesman said: “We support the family of a British man who died in Ukraine.
In the last week, Kyiv has admitted that it has suffered heavy losses in the invasion of Russia in the east.
Thousands of foreigners are believed to have entered Ukraine after President Vladimir Zelensky announced the creation of an international legion of volunteers from abroad in the early days of the Russian invasion. A significant number are believed to be citizens of the United Kingdom, although the British Armed Forces is urging the British not to go to the country.
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Two Britons and a Moroccan captured during battles with the Ukrainian army in Mariupol were sentenced to death by pro-Russian officials in what was described as a “disgusting demonstration trial from the Soviet era”.
Russian state media portrayed them as mercenaries and the court convicted them as such, despite evidence that all three served in the Ukrainian Marines and should therefore be protected by the Geneva Conventions for Prisoners of War.
Denis Pushilin, head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, where the three foreigners were tried, said Sunday that no mercy should be shown. British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss called the sentence “false” with “absolutely no legitimacy”.
In a separate case, Russia said former Royal Marine Ben Grant helped assassinate a Chechen brigade commander in Ukraine after footage of British national battles in the country emerged.
Grant, who was not 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 were preparing an attack on Russian targets in the Kharkiv region.
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