The 22-year-old was working with a private military company when he was killed on Monday. The company had sent him to Ukraine and paid him while he was fighting there, Cancel’s mother, Rebecca Cabrera, told CNN.
Cancel, a former U.S. Marine, said his mother signed up to work for a private contracting military company in addition to his full-time job as a correctional officer in Tennessee shortly before the war in Ukraine broke out in late February. said Cabrera. When the war began, the company, according to Cabrera, was looking for contractors to fight in Ukraine, and Cancel agreed to go, Cabrera said.
“He wanted to cross because he believed in what Ukraine was fighting for, and he wanted to be part of it to keep him there so that he wouldn’t come here and that maybe our American soldiers wouldn’t have to take part in him, “Cabrera told CNN in a telephone interview.
Cancel flew to Poland on March 12 and moved to Ukraine sometime on March 12 and 13, Cabrera said.
The group of men with whom Cancelle was fighting were from “all different countries,” Cabrera said.
Those who informed her of her son’s death told Cabrera that his body had not been found.
“They didn’t find his body,” she said. “They are trying, the men who were with him, but they had to either grab his body or be killed, but we would like him to come back to us.
A State Department official said they were “familiar with these reports and are closely monitoring the situation.”
“Due to privacy concerns, we have no further comments,” the official added. “We reaffirm that American citizens should not travel to Ukraine due to the active armed conflict and the separation of American citizens in Ukraine from Russian government security officials, and that US citizens in Ukraine should leave immediately if it is safe to do so. they shall do so using any commercial or other private ground transportation options. ”
Cancel leaves behind a 7-month-old baby and wife, Cabrera said. Cancelle lived in Tennessee before leaving for Ukraine and is from Orange County, New York, said Devin Titze Jr., Cancelli’s son-in-law.
Cabrera said Cancel “always puts everyone ahead.”
“He was just a really careful person. He always put everyone in front of him, even when the situations were so stressful, “Cabrera said of her son. “He always made everyone laugh and calm down. He was the man who stood up when everyone else backed away.
Titze said Cancel was “the type who fights for what is right, regardless of the outcome”, when asked why Cancel decided to join the battle in Ukraine.
“He believed with all his heart that this should not have happened and he wanted to go and help the people of Ukraine,” Titze said in a telephone interview.
Cabrera said Cancel “wants” to do the work under the military contract.
“It was something he believed in his heart, it was the right thing to do. He was the type of man who always got stronger when everyone else backed down, and there were a lot of men who were the ones who were with him,” he said. Cabrera.
Earlier on Thursday, the British government confirmed that a UK citizen had been killed in Ukraine and said officials were “urgently seeking additional information” about another who was unaccounted for, a British Foreign Office spokesman told CNN.
“We can confirm that a British citizen was killed in Ukraine and we are supporting our family,” they said.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense has set up a special unit, the International Legion, for foreign fighters who want to join the battle against Russia. More than 20,000 volunteers and veterans from 52 countries have expressed a desire to join the March 7 battle, according to Brig. Gen. Kirilo Budanov, Commander of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry, which will manage this legion. CNN previously reported on foreign nationals, including US and UK nationals, who have left their homes to join the battle in Ukraine.
CNN’s Kylie Atwood contributed to this report.
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