A US citizen who was among civilians in a Russian artillery attack on the city of Chernihiv in northern Ukraine has been identified as one of the when he was shot dead.
The US State Department confirmed that an American citizen was in the Wednesday attack, but did not immediately disclose the victim’s identity. However, family members told that it was James ‘Jimmy’ Whitney Hill, 68, of Minnesota.
His identity was then confirmed by an adviser to the Ukrainian Interior Ministry, Anton Gerashenko, according to .
Hill was living in Chernihiv to care for his Ukrainian partner, Ira, who was being treated for multiple sclerosis at a local hospital, his friends earlier this month. His sister, Katya, told the TV station that the family got confirmation of his death through the US embassy.
On Thursday afternoon, Cheryl Hill Gordon posted on Facebook that her brother was on Wednesday in Chernihiv.
‘My brother was yesterday in Chernihiv, Ukraine. He was waiting in a bread line with several other people when they were gunned down by Russian military snippers,’ Gordon wrote. ‘His body was found in the street by the local police.’
The death of a US citizen there first came to light early Thursday when Chernihiv Region Police wrote on Facebook that cops were ‘documenting the consequences of enemy shelling of civilians in the center of Chernihiv’.
‘Today, the occupiers once again carried out a heavy artillery attack on unarmed civilian residents of the city,’ the post read. ‘There are dead and wounded people. Among the dead – a US citizen.’
The post continued: ‘Police officers are helping to evacuate affected citizens to medical facilities. Chernihiv police investigators are working at the scene. Law enforcement officers are carefully documenting all the circumstances and consequences of Russian war crimes.’
A State Department spokesman told the early Thursday: ‘We are aware of reports of the death of a US citizen in Ukraine on March 17. We are monitoring the situation closely but cannot confirm these reports at this time.
‘We offer our sincerest condolences to the families of all whose lives have been lost in this unprovoked and unjustified war. We have no further comment at this time.’
Secretary of State in a briefing later on Thursday confirmed that an American citizen was in Ukraine, but gave no further details.
The Pentagon has not confirmed the death.
More than 50 people died in the attack in Chernihiv, according to the Ukrainian General Prosecutor’s Office. The US embassy in Kyiv claimed that Russian troops shot 10 people dead as they were waiting in line for bread.
‘Such horrific attacks must stop,’ the embassy stated. ‘We are considering all available options to ensure accountability for any atrocity crimes in Ukraine.’
Russia has denied it was involved in the deaths.
Hill spent the past two weeks detailing conditions in a Chernihiv hospital through daily Facebook posts and also posted about Russian bombings and other attacks. He wrote that he and Ira, who was in an intensive care unit, were eager to leave the hospital but could not find a safe route out.
‘We could try a break out tomorrow but Ira’s mom doesn’t want to,’ Hill wrote in a on Monday. ‘Each day people are trying to escape. But bombs falling here at night. Risk either way… I only have wifi a few hours a day. We have enough food for a few days.’
The next day, Hill wrote: ‘Intense bombing. still alive.’
Hill is at least the third US citizen to die in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. American journalist Brent Renaud was on Sunday as he was filming refugees in Irpin, near Kyiv. Ukrainian-American Serge Zevlever, who was based in Missouri and ran a nonprofit adoption agency in Ukraine, also died.
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