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The 22-year-old veteran believed to be the first American killed while fighting in the Ukrainian military was serving as a volunteer, not a private contractor, two fellow fighters said Thursday, contradicting earlier reports suggesting the latter.
Willy Joseph Cancel joined the International Legion of Territorial Defense, the unit created by President Volodymyr Zelensky to encourage foreign fighters to help Ukrainian troops battle against Russian soldiers, and worked on a team with four other Americans, said one of the unit’s members, Cameron Van Camp, 31, of Ellensburg, Wash.
Van Camp said the team assisted Ukrainian soldiers in repelling Russian troops in Irpin, a suburb of the capital, Kyiv, and in fighting around the southern cities of Kherson and Mykolaiv — all hard-hit regions on the front lines of the war. Cancel’s calm demeanor and youthful appearance earned him the admiration of both fellow fighters and Ukrainian grandmothers who would come up and thank him for his service, Van Camp recalled.
