US Department of State Building in Washington DC. File photoWASHINGTON, Jun 21 The State Department has confirmed the death of US citizen Steven Zabelski in Ukraine and again urged compatriots to refrain from traveling to this country. «We contacted his family and provided all possible consular support,» he said. RIA Novosti representative of the Foreign Ministry. He added that, out of respect for the family, the State Department will not disclose additional details of what happened. The Washington Post reported the day before that 52-year-old New Yorker Zabelski died during the fighting near the village of Dorozhnyanka on May 15. The man left behind a wife and five adopted children at home. that the Russian military captured in the suburbs of Kharkov two American mercenaries who fought on the side of Kyiv. According to the newspaper, we are talking about 39-year-old Alexander Dryuk and 27-year-old Andy Huyn, who became the first prisoners with an American passport during the special operation. The State Department previously informed that it has unconfirmed information about the fate of compatriots and finds out the details in contact with families, Ukrainian authorities and the Red Cross. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to abuse and genocide by the Kyiv regime for eight years.» To this end, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine» bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbas.
