Two Americans, a Canadian citizen, and a Swedish citizen have been killed as a result of a Russian tank attack in Donetsk region.
Their commander, Ruslan Miroshnychenko, told Politico about this, Yevropeiska Pravda online media reports.
The names of the dead U.S. citizens were Luke "Skywalker" Lutsyshyn and Brian Young, the Canadian - Emile Antoine Roy-Sirois, and the Swedish citizen - Edward Patrignani.
Miroshnychenko said that they were killed on July 18 as a result of tank shelling near the village of Hryhorivka.
The fighters were part of the Special Operations Forces of the Territorial Defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The unit is based near Siversk, a city in eastern Donetsk region.
According to Miroshnychenko, "the boys were tasked with taking up firing positions" and clearing the ravine where the Russian forces practiced crossing the river.
"They did it successfully. But at the end of the task, they were ambushed by Russian tanks," Miroshnychenko said.
"The first shell injured Luke. The three boys, Edward, Emil and Brian, immediately tried to help Luke, provide first aid and evacuate him from that place. Then the second shell killed them all," Miroshnychenko said.
A State Department official confirmed the deaths of the two Americans on Friday, but did not release their names.
According to Miroshnychenko, Lutsyshyn, an American of Ukrainian origin born in 1991, worked as a police officer in the United States. His grandmother emigrated from Ukraine to the United States after World War II.
Young born in 1971 is an American soldier who was wounded and retired. When the Russian invasion began, he decided to come to Ukraine because he "swore to defend the free world."
Roy-Sirois was a paramedic with experience in the French Foreign Legion. He was born in 1991.
Patrignani, born in 1994, was a reserve lieutenant, an economist and a philosopher and, according to Miroshnychenko, wanted to form a "platoon of Swedes".
As reported by Ukrainian News Agency, the demand for US citizens to leave Ukraine urgently is connected with the increase of missile attacks by Russian troops.
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