US confirms American volunteer killed fighting in Ukraine

An American volunteer has been killed fighting in Ukraine.

"We can confirm the death of a US citizen in Ukraine," a US State Department spokesperson told Newsweek on Friday. "Out of respect for the privacy of the family, we have no further comment at this time."

Earlier on Friday, a Russian official said Russian forces had killed an American who was volunteering to defend Ukraine amid the ongoing war.

Oleg Kozhemyako, governor of Russia's far eastern Primorsky Krai region, said on his Telegram channel that volunteers from Primorsky "Tiger" Detachment had killed a 24-year-old American man in combat.

Kozhemyako named the individual who was reportedly killed, but the man's identity has not been confirmed by U.S. officials.

"An American mercenary has been destroyed in Ukraine. And this is in the first clash literally immediately after arriving at the front line!" wrote Kozhemyako.

The documents shared by Kozhemyako said that the man was born in Tennessee and that he had enrolled with Ukraine's armed forces on July 24 with the A344 military unit.

Other images circulating online indicated that he was a "marksman" or a "shooter."