19-year-old Polish volunteer fighter killed on frontlines near Pokrovsk
Photo: PAP
In the Donetsk region near Pokrovsk, 19-year-old Polish citizen Filip Antosiak was killed. He had left his studies in Britain to volunteer with a Ukrainian strike drone unit.
RMF24 reported this.
Antosiak reportedly fought as part of the strike drone unit in the 25th Airborne Brigade.
The young man's parents, who reside in Britain, shared that after completing his studies in Cambridge, he initially expressed plans to pursue a career in the British army. However, he later revealed that he had gone to Ukraine.
"He was very proud of helping people here, in this country. He always talked about it when he called us. In the first letter he wrote to us after he went to Ukraine, he apologized for the first time in his life that he had lied to us, and that was his plan.
This is very difficult for us, but we are proud of our son," the father of the deceased volunteer said.
On January 30, Filip Antosiak was bid farewell with honors at the St. Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral in Kyiv, from where the procession descended to Maidan Nezalezhnosti.
Photo: pap.pl
At the ceremony, the anthems of Ukraine and Poland were played alternately, and the coffin was covered with the flags of both countries.
Ukrainian service members carry the coffin with the body of 19-year-old Filip Antosiak. Photo: REUTERS/Alina Smutko
The young man's parents and representatives of the Polish Consulate and various Polish organizations in Ukraine came to say goodbye.
Photo: REUTERS/Alina Smutko
The parents were presented with a posthumous award for Philip from the Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine's armed forces.
Filip will be buried in the city of Łowicz, Łódź Voivodeship.
Photo: REUTERS/Alina Smutko
For reference:
It should be noted that in January, Edgar Platonov, a serviceman of the International Legion of Ukraine's armed forces, died fighting for Ukraine. The Latvian volunteer was killed on December 25 last year in the Novoyehorivka area of the Luhansk region. He was 41 years old.
A 30-year-old Austrian volunteer died in the war defending Ukraine.
Foreign citizens are already fighting in the Defense Forces of Ukraine, not as representatives of their countries' armed forces but as volunteers.
Even at the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky called on citizens of foreign countries who were friends of Ukraine to join the territorial defense forces.
A separate unit was formed from them—the International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine. In March 2022, the Ministry of Defense reported that 55 countries have representatives in the International Legion.
In addition, a website was launched in Ukraine that contains all the necessary information for citizens of foreign countries who want to join the International Legion of Defense of Ukraine.
Also, in June 2024, Ukraine's intelligence reported on the simplification of service in military intelligence for foreigners.
