Another American was killed while fighting alongside Ukrainian forces against Russia’s attack on the country, NBC News reported on Monday.
Timothy Griffin of New York had been fighting in the International Legion of Defense — a military unit of thousands of foreign fighters helping the Ukrainians — when he was killed on the eastern front, according to NBC.
Griffin had “taken part in the counteroffensive on the eastern front with his unit and was killed in action,” the International Legion said in a statement.
The State Department later confirmed to several outlets that there was a death of a U.S. citizen in Ukraine and that it is in touch with the family of the deceased.
“Out of respect for the family’s privacy during this difficult time, we have nothing further to add,” State said, as reported by the Washington Examiner.
The International Legion, meanwhile, is “handling the repatriation process,” a regional spokesperson told NBC.
Griffin’s death brings the number of Americans killed in Russia’s war to at least six, though the U.S. government has urged its citizens not to travel to Ukraine.
Among those killed are Dane Partridge, 34, who died last month in eastern Ukraine; a 24-year-old man from Memphis, Tenn., who was reportedly killed while fighting Russian forces in the contested Donbas region in August; and two Americans killed by Russian fire in July, identified as Luke “Skywalker” Lucyszyn and Bryan Young.
And Willy Joseph Cancel, 22, was killed in April, followed by Stephen Zabielski in mid-May, the State Department has acknowledged.