According to his relatives, a former British soldier was slain on Friday while fighting to defend Ukraine from the ongoing Russian invasion.
Jordan Gatley, who left the British Army in March, was said to have been killed near the Eastern city of Severodonetsk, where the war’s hardest fighting has occurred thus far.
According to Dean Gatley of Derbyshire, the ‘hero’ former soldier went to Ukraine after Vladimir Putin ordered his troops into Ukraine on February 24.
‘I didn’t think I’d ever use social media in this way, but Sally, Adam, and I would like to share some family news with all our friends, but there are just too many people to call,’ Dean said on Facebook in an emotional tribute confirming the news.
‘We received the heartbreaking news yesterday (10/06/22) that our son, Jordan, was shot and murdered in the city of Severodonetsk, Ukraine,’ he said, alongside photos of Jordan as a toddler and in his military uniform.
Dean went on to explain the situation, saying, ‘Jordan departed the British Army in March this year to pursue a career as a soldier in other areas.’ The fight against Europe had begun, so he rushed to Ukraine to assist after much thought.
‘We’ve received multiple comments from his colleagues out there praising his vast knowledge, soldiering skills, and enthusiasm for his work.’ His team, as well as we, all liked him, and he made a huge difference in many people’s lives, not only as a soldier, but also as a trainer of Ukrainian forces,’ he said.
Jordan and his unit in Ukraine were “very proud” of what they were accomplishing in the troubled country, according to Dean, and the missions they were carrying out were “risk, but important.”
‘He was passionate about his work, and we are extremely proud of him.’ He was a true hero who will live on in our hearts forever,’ he said.
After 36-year-old volunteer soldier Scott Sibley was slain fighting Russian troops in April, Jordan Gatley became the second British combatant killed in Ukraine.
The father was a British army veteran who served in Afghanistan with the Commando Logistic Support Squadron.
Meanwhile, UK citizens Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner were condemned to death in the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) separatist part of Ukraine on Thursday, in what has been dubbed a’sham judgment.’
The unfortunate news comes as the Russian military continues to fight for control of Severodonetsk, a significant industrial city.
According to the entrepreneur whose business owns the facility, Russia is launching ‘unsuccessful’ assaults on the city, where roughly 800 inhabitants have taken sanctuary in the bunkers of the Azot chemical complex.
The Azot facility had been’shelled severely for hours,’ according to Gaiday, and the city had been ‘ruined’ by Russian soldiers.
‘This is their strategy: people aren’t needed, infrastructure isn’t needed, dwellings aren’t needed, and everything should be destroyed,’ he explained.
He went on to say that the number of civilians killed would be “enormous and awful.”
Gaiday claimed that Ukrainian forces in Severodonetsk were winning street engagements, but that Russian artillery would’story after storey’ destroy the houses they were using for cover.
On Saturday, the governor of Donetsk confirmed two civilian deaths and 11 wounded across the area.
Since Saturday, ‘all main cities in the free territory’ of Donetsk have been without electricity,’ according to the area’s military government.
According to the regional Ukrainian command, a man died in Odessa after coming into touch with an explosive item while swimming at a beach with his wife and son. Due to the dangers of mines, visiting the beaches there is currently prohibited.
Every day brings a brush with death for residents of nearby Mykolaiv.
Igor Karputov, 31, described how a bomb exploded in his neighborhood last week, rocking his residence, and how he assisted a bleeding guy to an ambulance.
‘Then I went to another site that had been affected,’ he told AFP, ‘where emergency personnel were already taking care of someone.’
‘However, they were already dead.’ And the person I had assisted passed away in an ambulance.’
Vitaliy Kim, the regional governor of Mykolaiv, emphasized the critical necessity for foreign military help.
‘Russia’s army is more powerful; they have a lot of artillery and ammunition… and we’re out of ammunition,’ he remarked on Saturday.
The Ukrainian Air Force destroyed ammo stores and equipment in three air attacks in the last 24 hours, according to the southern command, which did not name the locations.