Two Americans killed in Ukraine combat: US State Department

The US Department of State has confirmed two more American citizens have died while fighting against Russians in eastern Ukraine.

The State Department said in a statement on Saturday that the two died in the Donbas region of the country, where Russian forces have intensified their attacks, The Hill reported.

“We are in touch with the families and providing all possible consular assistance,” the State Department said in an email to The Hill. “Out of respect to the families during this difficult time, we have nothing further,” the department concluded.

The news from the State Department comes on the same day news broke that the Russians launched a missile attack on the Black Sea port of Odessa.

Several Americans have now died in Ukraine during the conflict, which has lasted for five months.

Video journalist Brent Renaud was killed in a war zone in March while his companion came away with severe injuries.

A second American man, Jimmy Hill, was killed in Ukraine.

One man, a former Marine, was fighting in Ukraine in April when he was killed by Russian forces.

“He wanted to go over because he believed in what Ukraine was fighting for, and he wanted to be a part of it, to contain it there so it didn’t come here, and that maybe our American soldiers wouldn’t have to be involved in it,” his mother said.

A second man from New York died while fighting last month in Dorozhniank.

“We once again reiterate US citizens should not travel to Ukraine due to the active armed conflict and the singling out of US citizens in Ukraine by Russian government security officials,” a State Department official said last month.

“US citizens in Ukraine should depart immediately if it is safe to do so using any commercial or other privately available ground transportation options.”

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According to the Interfax news agency, the Americans were in the Russian-backed separatist region of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine has been at war with Russia since President Vladimir Putin declared a military operation in the neighboring country in late February, following Kiev’s failure to implement the terms of the Minsk agreements and Moscow’s recognition of the breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk.

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