PM offers ‘deepest condolences' after Australian humanitarian aid worker killed whilst disposing bombs in Ukraine
Former Australian soldier Nick Parsons has been killed whilst volunteering for a land mine disposal charity in Ukraine, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese verifying the incident and offering his 'deepest condolences' to the man's family.
The ex-soldier was killed alongside a British colleague whilst volunteering for the UK-US based charity Prevail Together, which specialises in clearing and disposing deadly landmines and undetonated explosives.
Parsons, aged 28, and known as 'Desmond' by his peers, died from injuries sustained last week in a potential armed drone attack in the eastern Ukrainian city of Izyum.
In a statement on Monday, Prevail board member Shaun Pinner confirmed the incident was still under investigation and that the organisations co-founder and bomb-disposal expert Chris Garrett was the second casualty.
'On May 6 Prevail received the devastating news that our Founder and Chairman alongside other team members were severely injured in an incident near Izyum,' it read.
"We are still gathering information and working alongside military and police officials to uncover the details."
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed he had received advice from the Department of Foreign Affairs to not name the man, yet reiterated that Parsons was not a combatant but rather an international aid worker.
'It's important to express the deepest condolences and sympathies with his family and his loved ones at this very difficult time," he said.
He also stated DFAT was providing consular support to the man's family and reminded Australians that Ukraine was 'not a travel zone' and 'the situation is extremely dangerous'.
It is believed a third unnamed man who was also volunteering for the charity was critically injured in the incident that occurred last Tuesday.
In a statement to SBS News, Ukraine's Ambassador to Australia Vasyl Myroshnychenko said the death of the Australian man was 'very sad and very unfortunate'.
'I would like to express my condolences to his family members to his friends and relatives here in Australia, it's very tragic," Mr Myroshnychenko said.
"He was just a volunteer, but was on a very important mission, a demining mission'.
A GoFundMe page has been set up for Mr Garrett, who was also known as 'Swampy', with more than US$46,500 raised as of Monday afternoon.
The fund is aiming to cover repatriation and funeral costs of the British national.
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