Relatives: Former US Marine killed while fighting in Ukraine

A 22-year-old former U.S. Marine was killed alongside Ukrainian forces in the war with Russia, his relatives told news outlets in what’s the first known death of an American citizen fighting in Ukraine.

Willy Joseph Cancel was killed Monday while working for a military contracting company that sent him to Ukraine, his mother, Rebecca Cabrera, told CNN. Cancel had recently worked as a corrections officer in Tennessee and had previously served in the Marines from 2017-21, joining the service the same year he graduated from high school.

Cabrera said her son had signed up to work with the private military contractor shortly before fighting began in Ukraine on Feb. 24. She told CNN he agreed to go to Ukraine.

“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,” she said.

Cancel had served as a volunteer firefighter in New York and had a 7-month-old son, according to an online fundraising page set up by a man identifying himself as his father.

The U.S. government said it had seen reports about the death but did not have official confirmation, according to White House press secretary Jen Psaki.

“It’s very sad. He left a little baby behind,” President Joe Biden said.

Psaki reiterated warnings against U.S. citizens traveling to Ukraine.

“We know people want to help, but we do encourage Americans to find other ways to do so rather than traveling to Ukraine to fight there. It is a war zone.”

The State Department also said it was aware of the reports and is “closely monitoring the situation,” but could not comment further “due to privacy considerations.” It also urged U.S. citizens not to go to Ukraine.

Cabrera said her son’s body has not been found.

“They are trying, the men that were with him, but it was either grab his body or get killed, but we would love for him to come back to us,” she said.

She said her son flew to Poland on March 12 and entered Ukraine shortly after, to fight alongside men from a number of countries.

A roommate who lived with Cancel in Kentucky in the months before he left for Ukraine said he became interested in going to help shortly after the war began.

“Right around when it was getting serious was when he said he wanted to go,” said 21-year-old Triston Mannahan. “He felt obligated because that (the war) was wrong and he wanted to help.”

Mannahan said that Cancel packed his things over a couple of days in mid-March and left for Europe.

“He’s really brave,” Mannahan said. “That’s what he wanted to do.”

The fundraising page said Cancel’s wife got a call Tuesday informing her of his death. The father wrote that Cancel decided to go to Ukraine because he wanted to defend innocent people.

Cancel graduated from Newburgh Free Academy in New York in 2017, the school district said. An instructor who mentored him in the Air Force Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps, Master Sgt. Christian Granda, said he was a “dedicated cadet who served our community well” and joined the Marines right after high school.

Cancel…