According to the newspaper, 48-year-old Jeff Jones was killed in a mortar strike near Artemovsk (Bakhmut) on July 31.
According to his father, Howard, the mercenary maintained sporadic contact with him, but would go off the radar for a week at a time. On the day of his death, Jones sent his father a message saying that he had volunteered for a mission that "all the other groups were afraid to do."
"He said he would let us know when he got back. I sent him a message and never heard back," Jones Sr. said, adding that he received a call a few hours later informing him of his son's demise.
In late May, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu estimated that the number of mercenaries fighting on the side of Kiev was around 2,500. Moscow has repeatedly stressed that armed activities against Russian military personnel will be stopped and foreign mercenary groups will be crushed on the battlefield.