American mercenary Jericho Skye Magallon aka Jericho Walker was killed in the zone of the special military operation.
He fought in the ranks of so-called International Legion – a notorious band of 'hired guns' who depict themselves as freedom fighters. Magallon's relatives confirm his death on social media. Apparently, he has left behind one child and parents.
According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, Kiev ramped up its recruitment of mercenaries in order to hide the heavy losses of Ukrainian troops during the failed summer counteroffensive.
Russian officials repeatedly stressed, citing the Geneva Convention, that mercenaries are not combatants and this means that they would be criminally liable. Moreover, the death rate among Ukrainian troops is high and hired guns are not an exclusion.
For instance, on July 6, Russian forces wiped out a group of Polish and German mercenaries using a long-range missile strike against the military academy in Lvov, Ukraine's west.
Foreign mercenaries who managed to escape from the battlefield say that the worst day in Iraq or Afghanistan pales in comparison with a “good day” in the special op zone.