Latest news with #ShaunPinner
The Guardian
12-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Former Australian soldier killed in Ukraine while working for humanitarian organisation
An Australian man has been killed while working for a humanitarian organisation in Ukraine. The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, on Monday confirmed the 28-year-old former soldier had died. Albanese expressed his 'deepest condolences and sympathies' to the man's family and friends. He said the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Dfat) was assisting the man's family and had advised that he not be named 'at this point in time'. 'Out of respect for the family's privacy and consistent with our obligations, there is a limit to what we can say publicly at this time,' Albanese said. 'I can confirm he wasn't a participant in the conflict, he was volunteering with a humanitarian organisation.' Albanese said Ukraine remained a 'do not travel zone' and 'we continue to strongly advise all Australians not to travel to Ukraine, under any circumstances'. The ABC reported the man died last week from injuries he suffered near the city of Izyum in eastern Ukraine. The man was reportedly working for Prevail, a humanitarian non-government organisation (NGO) that clears landmines in the war-torn country. Last week, Prevail posted a statement on its Instagram account saying the charity's founder and chairman and other team members had been 'severely injured' in an incident near Izyum. 'We are still gathering information and working alongside military and police officials to uncover the details,' the statement said. Shaun Pinner, a former British soldier and Prevail board member, posted a statement on X on 7 May that said two of the three people who had been injured had 'sadly passed away'. Pinner said he could confirm that Prevail's founder and chairman, Chris Garrett, was among those who had died. 'Our thoughts and prayers are with the families affected,' he said. 'We can't and will not comment during an ongoing investigation.' A fundraiser set up to support Garett's family, which had raised more than USD $46,000 as of Monday, said the veteran was an explosive ordnance disposal expert who died while working to disable an explosive device. A Dfat spokespersonsaid it was providing consular assistance to the family of an Australian who died in Ukraine. 'We send our deepest condolences to the family at this difficult time,' they said. 'Owing to our privacy obligations we are unable to provide further comment.'
The Independent
09-05-2025
- The Independent
‘Emotional' outpouring from Ukraine after death of British bomb disposal expert
The death of a British bomb disposal expert who was killed while clearing landmines has prompted an 'emotional' outpouring from communities in Ukraine, his friend and colleague has said. Christopher Garrett, originally from the Isle of Man, died following an explosion in the eastern European country, where he co-founded charity Prevail to provide bomb disposal, trauma care and humanitarian aid. A fundraiser launched to support the family of the 40-year-old, who had a one-year-old daughter, raised more than 10,000 US dollars (£7,543) within a day of being launched. Shaun Pinner, spokesman and ambassador for Prevail, told the PA news agency: 'Chris was a talisman. He was driven by the injustices Russia are doing here. 'He brought mine awareness to children through to adults and had knowledge which will be deeply missed. 'The outpouring has been really emotional. Local communities have all reached out to us. 'He knew everyone in the military and police as well as all the civilian communities. 'The amount of lives he has saved, I can't count them. He's pulled out tons and tons of mines.' Mr Pinner said his colleague was doing 'probably the most dangerous job in the most dangerous place in the world'. An investigation is now ongoing into the explosion near Izyum on Tuesday, which also killed one of Mr Garrett's colleagues, an Australian national, and injured a third man. Mr Pinner said the work of Prevail, of which Mr Garrett was chairman, would carry on. 'We will continue his legacy,' he said. 'We will continue to move forward. We're going to have to restrict part of it because we've lost a very capable guy but the humanitarian side of it will keep going and we'll look to regroup. 'The charity is called Prevail and the name says it all.' The GoFundMe page set up in memory of Mr Garrett, also known as Swampy, will cover repatriation and funeral costs, with any additional money raised going to his partner, charity co-founder Courtney Pollock, and their daughter. A message on the site said: 'We will miss him acutely. His legacy and his hard work will forever Prevail.' According to his profile on the Prevail website, Mr Garrett volunteered in Myanmar for humanitarian efforts and had been heavily involved in work in Ukraine since 2014, including providing mine risk education, clearance training and support to military, police and emergency services. A spokesman for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said: 'We are supporting the family of a British man who died in Ukraine and are in contact with the local authorities.'
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Yahoo
‘Emotional' outpouring from Ukraine after death of British bomb disposal expert
The death of a British bomb disposal expert who was killed while clearing landmines has prompted an 'emotional' outpouring from communities in Ukraine, his friend and colleague has said. Christopher Garrett, originally from the Isle of Man, died following an explosion in the eastern European country, where he co-founded charity Prevail to provide bomb disposal, trauma care and humanitarian aid. A fundraiser launched to support the family of the 40-year-old, who had a one-year-old daughter, raised more than 10,000 US dollars (£7,543) within a day of being launched. Shaun Pinner, spokesman and ambassador for Prevail, told the PA news agency: 'Chris was a talisman. He was driven by the injustices Russia are doing here. 'He brought mine awareness to children through to adults and had knowledge which will be deeply missed. 'The outpouring has been really emotional. Local communities have all reached out to us. 'He knew everyone in the military and police as well as all the civilian communities. 'The amount of lives he has saved, I can't count them. He's pulled out tons and tons of mines.' Mr Pinner said his colleague was doing 'probably the most dangerous job in the most dangerous place in the world'. An investigation is now ongoing into the explosion near Izyum on Tuesday, which also killed one of Mr Garrett's colleagues, an Australian national, and injured a third man. Mr Pinner said the work of Prevail, of which Mr Garrett was chairman, would carry on. 'We will continue his legacy,' he said. 'We will continue to move forward. We're going to have to restrict part of it because we've lost a very capable guy but the humanitarian side of it will keep going and we'll look to regroup. 'The charity is called Prevail and the name says it all.' The GoFundMe page set up in memory of Mr Garrett, also known as Swampy, will cover repatriation and funeral costs, with any additional money raised going to his partner, charity co-founder Courtney Pollock, and their daughter. A message on the site said: 'We will miss him acutely. His legacy and his hard work will forever Prevail.' According to his profile on the Prevail website, Mr Garrett volunteered in Myanmar for humanitarian efforts and had been heavily involved in work in Ukraine since 2014, including providing mine risk education, clearance training and support to military, police and emergency services. A spokesman for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said: 'We are supporting the family of a British man who died in Ukraine and are in contact with the local authorities.'
Daily Mail
07-05-2025
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Hero Brit volunteer, 40, is killed while trying to clear Russian mines in Ukraine
The British founder of a bomb disposal charity is believed to have been killed in Ukraine after a Russian court sentenced him to 14 years in jail. Chris Garrett was among three people said to have been critically injured in an incident near Izyum, Kharkiv Oblast on Tuesday. He was reportedly wounded while trying to clear minefields, according to The Sun. Shaun Pinner, a former British soldier and Ukraine war prisoner, said today that Mr Garrett and another individual, who was not named, had 'sadly passed away'. 'I can confirm that Chris was among those who died,' he wrote on X today. 'Our thoughts and prayers are with the families affected.' Mr Garrett was a British volunteer from the Isle of Man, working in Ukraine to clear landmines from the war-torn country. He was the founder of Prevail, a charity providing training to others in how to safely remove undetonated explosives. Nearly a third of Ukraine is estimated to have been 'contaminated' by explosive ordnance. Charities warn that landmines pose an 'ever-present danger' to civilian communities, with 'children particularly at risk'. Earlier this year, Mr Garrett was sentenced to 14 and a half years in jail by a Russian proxy court. He was convicted of terrorism charges in his absence by a court under Russian control, while using his skills as a bomb disposal expert to defuse and remove materiel left behind by Russian troops. 'The charges are ridiculous,' he said at the time, as reported by ITV. 'I mean, charged for terrorism by volunteering, or at times, being under contract by the Ukrainian armed forces.' Mr Garrett was working in Ukraine to clear landmines years before the full Russian invasion in February 2022. In 2016, two years after the illegal annexation of Crimea, Mr Garrett said that he was clearing landmines with a volunteer battalion as part of the Ukrainian National Guard. Tributes poured in for Mr Garrett with the news of his death. One X user wrote: 'He and the team were very courageous and brave. Their heroic legacy of brave actions and sacrifice will live on forever.' Another reflected: 'I remember talking to the guy on here just after the war started I remember thinking then this guy and team are doing amazing things for Ukrainians - saddened by this loss but at least there's a legacy born from the team that'll always be remembered.' Shaun Pinner, who wrote of Mr Garrett's tragic passing on X, was a prisoner of war in Ukraine, captured by Russian forces in 2022. Mr Pinner signed up to be a contracted soldier in Ukraine's military in 2018, rising through the ranks after serving with the British Army for nine years. He was captured by Russian forces during the siege of Mariupol in April 2022. Mr Pinner said he was brutally beaten, electrocuted and starved by his captors over five months in captivity - treatment he said infringed his human rights and entitled him to compensation. A Kyiv court ruled last April that he had been inhumanely treated and that the Russian Federation must compensate him accordingly.
