According to the outlet, their families have confirmed the deaths
Newsweek has reported that two American mercenaries were killed in December while fighting for Ukraine against Russian forces.
In a Monday article, the outlet said the relatives of the two US citizens—Brian Zacherl and Ty Wingate—have confirmed their deaths on social media.
It added that they were apparently members of the International Legion, which is under the authority of Ukraine’s military intelligence (HUR).
The article stated that Zacherl’s nephew posted on Facebook on December 5 that his uncle had been “killed in battle a couple of days ago.” According to the nephew, Zacherl’s wife and two children are still in Kiev, “waiting for conditions to allow the recovery of his body from the battlefield.”
RIA Novosti reported—after reviewing his social media accounts—that the mercenary’s father, Brian Zacherl Senior, is a former US Marine who also worked for the CIA from 2013 to 2018.
Citing Wingate’s sister, Newsweek reported that he died on December 3 when a Russian drone hit an armored personnel carrier he was riding in. She said he leaves behind a pregnant wife.
Since the Russia-Ukraine escalation began in February 2022, there is no official data on how many US citizens have been killed. The Kiev-based Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War—which hosts an exhibition on foreign mercenaries in the ongoing conflict—reported 92 American fatalities as of early September.
Yury Gorpinich, the exhibition’s curator, told the New York Times that “several thousand” US citizens have served with Ukrainian forces to date.
In April, the Kiev government simplified rules for recruiting foreigners into its military as Ukraine struggles to replenish heavy frontline losses amid mass draft avoidance and desertions.
According to Moscow’s estimates, over 15,000 mercenaries—mostly from Poland, the US, and Georgia—have fought on Kiev’s side. As of December 2024, nearly 6,500 of them have been killed in action, per Russian figures.
Russia has consistently warned that any non-Ukrainians serving in Kiev’s military will be treated as mercenaries—who are not protected by the Geneva Convention, which typically applies to combatants.