DFAT investigating claims Australian ex-soldier killed in combat in Ukraine

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is looking into reports that a former Australian soldier and medic was killed fighting in Ukraine.

Two social media accounts of foreign fighters in Ukraine said the man, who they identified by a nickname, recently died in combat.

Two months ago the Australian featured in a recruitment video for the International Legionnaires, a unit that recruits foreigners for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The 40-minute video shows the man in a close-quarters firefight with Russian soldiers in a burnt-out apartment building as part of a unit called Med Team Alpha, which is controlled by Defence Intelligence of Ukraine.

In an interview shown after the fight, with his face covered, the man said he came face-to-face with the Russians and killed two or three of them in his first firefight.

He said he went to Ukraine because his military skills would not be useful for a job outside the army in Australia.

“So I thought Ukraine would be the perfect opportunity to one, help out the country as a whole, and use my skills to good use,” he said in the video. “I mainly wanted to do this because I got sick of training and not actually getting to put my skills to use.”

He has posted photos from the front on Instagram since late July. No one answered his phone on Monday evening. The International Legionnaires did not immediately respond to a request for information on the man.

Fourteen other Australians have died fighting against Russian in the four-year-old war, while the total number of foreigners killed on the Ukrainian side is estimated to be between 600 and 1000.