The only American fighting for the Ukraine Dies in combat
Vice has an interesting interview with Mark Gregory Paslawsky, the sole American fighting on the Ukrainian side of the war in the east of the country. Paslawsky died from injuries sustained in battle in the town of Ilovaysk on Aug 18.
Known by the codename “Franko,” the 55-year-old investment banker was a Manhattan native, and had a slight limp and a pronounced New York accent, making him seem an unlikely candidate for a soldier in an eastern European war that has already claimed more than 2,000 lives. A former U.S. Army major with a Ranger tab, Paslawsky was a soldier at heart
Vice News interviewed Paslawsky in early August in the Luhansk region where he had been deployed with the volunteer Donbas Battalion. He said he decided to take up arms against the separatist Russia-backed rebellion because of his family’s Ukrainian background, as well as the frustration and helplessness that came with watching news reports on Ukraine’s deteriorating situation after Moscow’s annexation of Crimea.
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