Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday confirmed to reporters that an American citizen had just been killed in Ukraine amidRussia’s ongoing invasion.
Police in Chernihiv also said a U.S. citizen was among those killed in attacks on civilians in the northeastern Ukraine city near the Russian and Belarussian borders.
“Today, the occupiers once again carried out a heavy artillery attack on unarmed civilian residents of the city. There are dead and wounded people,” the policewrote on Facebook. “Among the dead — US citizens.”
In a statement shared with PEOPLE, the State Department offered “our sincerest condolences to the family on their loss” but gave no other details, citing “respect to the family during this difficult time.”
The slain American was identified as James or Jim Hill, of Idaho, according tolocal mediaandThe New York Times.
Hill and his partner, a Ukraine native, were in the country because she was receiving medical care, per theTimes.
“Each day people are killed trying to escape,” Hill reportedly wrote on Facebook this week. “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.”
American diplomats in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, had said Russian forces shot and killed a group of people who went out in search of food in besieged Chernihiv on Wednesday.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.State Emergency Service of Ukraine/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
“Today, Russian forces shot and killed 10 people standing in line for bread in Chernihiv,” theU.S. Embassy wrote in a tweet. “Such horrific attacks must stop. We are considering all available options to ensure accountability for any atrocity crimes in Ukraine.”
Russia has repeatedly denied targeting civilian sites. But in video posted on social media, which appeared to show the aftermath of the shooting, people look on stunned at covered bodies on the ground.
The governor of the region, Viacheslav Chaus, said Chernihiv had lost power and was “suffering heavy losses” with53 citizens killedthere on Wednesday.
The latest attacks on civilians come as PresidentJoe Bidensaid of Russia’sVladimir PutinWednesday,“I think he is a war criminal.”
“The president’s remarks speak for themselves,” White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters afterward. Biden, she added, was “speaking from the heart” and “responding to what he has seen on television.”
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The fighting continues some three weeks after Russian forces launched a large-scale invasion on Feb. 24 — the first major land conflict in Europe in decades.
With NATO forces massing in the region around Ukraine, various countries have also pledged aid or military support to the resistance. Ukraine PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskyycalled for peace talks — so far unsuccessful — while urging his country to fight back.
Putin insists Ukraine has historic ties to Russia and he is acting in the best security interests of his country. Zelenskyy vowed not to bend.
“Nobody is going to break us, we’re strong, we’re Ukrainians,“he told the European Unionin a speech in the early days of the fighting, adding, “Life will win over death. And light will win over darkness.”
source: people.com
