Media Reports Death of Two U.S. Mercenaries in Ukraine War
The fatalities of US nationals Brian Zacherl and Ty Wingate were confirmed by their families on social media, the outlet stated in a Monday article. Both men were reportedly part of the International Legion, a unit under the control of Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR), the report added.
Zacherl’s nephew shared on Facebook on December 5 that his uncle had been “killed in battle a couple of days ago.” The post noted that Zacherl’s wife and two children remained in Kiev, “waiting for conditions to allow the recovery of his body from the battlefield.”
Zacherl's father, Brian Zacherl Senior, is a former US Marine who worked with the CIA from 2013 to 2018, according to media, which reviewed his social media profiles.
Wingate, according to his sister, died on December 3 when a Russian drone struck the armored personnel carrier he was riding in. She added that Wingate left behind a pregnant wife.
There is no official data on the total number of US citizens killed since the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in February 2022. However, according to the Kiev-based Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War—an institution that hosts an exhibition on foreign mercenaries involved in the war—there had been 92 American fatalities as of early September.
Yury Gorpinich, the exhibition’s curator, told the New York Times that “several thousand” Americans have volunteered to serve with Ukrainian forces.
In April, Ukraine simplified recruitment rules for foreign fighters amid significant frontline casualties and ongoing draft evasion. Moscow estimates that over 15,000 mercenaries—primarily from Poland, the US, and Georgia—have fought on the side of Ukraine. As of December 2024, nearly 6,500 of them have been reported killed in action, according to Russian figures.
Russia has repeatedly warned that foreign nationals serving in Ukraine’s military will be labeled as mercenaries, and thus, will not be afforded protections under the Geneva Convention typically granted to combatants.
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