NEW-YORK, April 29. /TASS/. A US citizen, Willy Joseph Cancel, working with a private military contracting company, was killed in Ukraine, CNN reported on Friday.
According to Cancel’s mother, the 22-year-old was killed on Monday, but his body had not been found. In mid-March, Cancel crossed into Ukraine from Poland to fight alongside people from "all different countries", the TV channel said. A former US marine, Cancel signed up to work for the private military contracting company on top of his job as a corrections officer in Tennessee, CNN said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on February 24 launched a special operation in Ukraine, in response to a request for help from the leaders of the Donbass republics. The Russian leader stressed that Moscow had no plans of occupying Ukrainian territories, and that the operation was aimed at the denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine.