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American citizen Willy Joseph Cancel was killed while fighting alongside Ukrainian forces in Ukraine, CNN has reported.

Cancel, a former U.S. Marine, was 22 years old and working for a private military contractor when he was sent by his company to fight in Ukraine, his mother Rebecca Cabrera said.

“He wanted to go over because he believed in what Ukraine was fighting for, and he wanted to be a part of it to contain it there so it didn’t come here, and that maybe our American soldiers wouldn’t have to be involved in it,” Cabrera told CNN in a phone interview.

Cancel entered Ukraine via Poland in mid-March and was killed on Monday, his mother said.

NBC has reached out to Cancel’s family and the State Department. Quoted by CNN, a State Department official said they are “aware of these reports and are closely monitoring the situation.”

“Due to privacy considerations, we have no further comment,” the official added. “We once again reiterate U.S. citizens should not travel to Ukraine due to the active armed conflict and the singling out of U.S. citizens in Ukraine by Russian government security officials, and that U.S. citizens in Ukraine should depart immediately if it is safe to do so, using any commercial or other privately available ground transportation options.”

More than 20,000 foreign fighters from 52 countries, many of whom are military veterans, have volunteered to fight against the Russian invasion in Ukraine, according to Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, which created the International Legion to serve that purpose.

— Natasha Turak