Skylar James Gregg, a 23-year-old from Washington who left home in the spring to join the Ukranian war effort, has died.
The Daily Beast reported on Friday that Gregg’ father and commander in Ukraine both confirmed the man’s death. The Ukranian commander, who declined to reveal his name to the news outlet, also said he could not reveal where exactly Gregg died because of security concerns with Ukraine’s fight against Russia ongoing.
In June, shortly after his arrival in Ukraine, Gregg was wounded while fighting near Kharkiv in the eastern part of the country. The Daily Beast reported that Gregg was wounded there, with 14 fragments penetrating his body and leaving him recovering in a hospital.
Nevertheless, Gregg at that point was determined to return to the front-line of the conflict with the International Legion — a group of foreign volunteers fighting under the command of the Territorial Defense Forces of Ukraine. The unit was believed to have as many as 20,000 people in it this spring, and has seen combat in a variety of settings since its formation.
Gregg becomes one of a handful of Americans who has died fighting in Ukraine since the war began in February, including two Americans who died fighting in eastern Ukraine over the summer.
The US discourages its citizens from traveling to Ukraine or taking up in arms in the conflict, but that didn’t stop Gregg when, motivated by the images of atrocities committed by invading Russian forces in Ukraine, he snuck away from his father’s house on Orcas Island in Washington and traveled to Ukraine to do his part to help that country stave off the Russian attack.
“I couldn’t just sit by. I had to do something,” Gregg told The Daily Beast in June. “I couldn’t just sit by. I have friends in Ukraine. It is so terrible what is happening. I needed to do something.”
Gregg had no military experience when he arrived in Ukraine, but became a machine gunner after a short training period. In June, Gregg’s father Steve said that his son liked to read and may have been inspired by Ernest Hemmingway’s novel For Whom the Bell Tolls — a novel about an American who travels to Spain to fight fascism during the Spanish Civil War.
“You know, Skyler always wanted to give his all, and if he died, then he wanted it to set an example and to live his life fully,” Steve Gregg told The Daily Beast. “He relished human connections, and it is tough for me to criticize his drive to help people. I cannot criticize that.”
