The president of the United States, Joe Biden, expressed his regret at the murder of the American Willy Joseph Cancel, who was fighting alongside the Ukrainian forces against the Russian troops.
“It is very sad. She left her baby behind,” the president said, referring to the victim’s mother at a press conference at the White House, where he was organizing a meeting of federal inspectors general, reported CNN.
Among the US officials who mourned the death of Cancel was the White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, who stated that their hearts go out to the family and loved ones of the young man from 22 years.
Furthermore, he emphasized that US citizens should not travel to Ukraine to take up arms for any reason, given the risk that this country represents due to the war that is still in progress.
“We know that Americans are looking for ways to help and reports on this individual indicate that he is a veteran“ Psaki noted. “He had a son, I think, and he certainly sounded like a very passionate young man. We know that people want to help, but we encourage Americans to find other ways to do so, instead of traveling to Ukraine to fight”.
The US government spokeswoman took the opportunity to warn that Ukraine is a active war zone, so Americans face significant risks, concluding, “We certainly know that a family is in mourning. A wife is in mourning and our hearts go out to them”.
Cancel’s death in the past 25 of April. His arrival on Ukrainian territory was through a private military contractor company, where he was registered.
Before offering his services to private companies, Cancel worked full time as a prison officer in Tennessee shortly before the war in Ukraine began on 24 February. The military company was looking for contractors to fight in that country, and he agreed, his mother said.
“He wanted to go because he believed in what Ukraine was fighting, and he wanted to be part of that to contain it there, so that (the war) would not come here, and that maybe our American soldiers would not have to be involved”, Rebecca Cabrera, Cancel’s mother, said in a telephone interview for CNN.
Furthermore, Cancel, whose death was the first recorded death of an American citizen in the Ukraine war, served in the United States Marine Corps between December 2017 and November 2021, according to Navy spokesman Maj. Jim Stenger.
You may also be interested in:
• US Congress grants powers to Biden to lend more weapons to Ukraine
• Angelina Jolie visits the Ukrainian city of Lviv amid ongoing Russian attacks
• Smithsonian Institute of US monitors Ukrainian cultural treasures to protect them from Russia