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The Kyiv Independent’s contributor Ignatius Ivlev-Yorke spent a day with a mobile team from the State Emergency Service in Nikopol in the south of Ukraine as they responded to relentless drone, artillery, and mortar strikes from Russian forces just across the Dnipro River. Nikopol is located across from the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant in the city of Enerhodar.

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2 Georgian volunteers fighting for Ukraine killed in combat

2 min read
2 Georgian volunteers fighting for Ukraine killed in combat
Illustrative purposes only: Georgian and Ukrainian flags. (Vera Petrunina/Getty Images)

Two Georgian volunteers fighting for Ukraine, David Gogadze and Beso Lomidze, have been killed during hostilities in the Avdiivka sector, the Black Eagle unit said on May 7.

According to available information, Georgians rank first among the foreign fighters killed while fighting on Ukraine's side during the full-scale war with Russia.

"As a result of military operations in the Avdiivka direction, fighters of the Black Eagle detachment, David Gogadze and Beso Lomidze, were killed," Black Eagle said on Facebook.

"The Black Eagle unit extends its condolences to the bereaved families."

The unit did not specify the date of the two fighters' deaths.

Pro-Ukrainian Georgian volunteers usually fight in one of four different units: the Georgian Legion, the Caucasian Legion, the Black Eagle, and Tbilisi, Radio Free Europe/Radio Europe's Georgian service said.

In comments to The Kyiv Independent in February, the Georgian Legion said that at least 59 Georgian fighters had been killed in battle since the beginning of the full-scale war.

More casualties among their ranks have been reported since then.

Georgians likely rank first among foreign fighters killed fighting for Ukraine
Estimates vary, but Georgian media approximates that between 50-60 Georgian soldiers have been killed fighting for Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in 2022, making it likely the highest death toll of any foreign nationality fighting on the Ukrainian side.
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Martin Fornusek

Senior News Editor

Martin Fornusek is a news editor at the Kyiv Independent. He has previously worked as a news content editor at the media company Newsmatics and is a contributor to Euromaidan Press. He was also volunteering as an editor and translator at the Czech-language version of Ukraïner. Martin studied at Masaryk University in Brno, Czechia, holding a bachelor's degree in security studies and history and a master's degree in conflict and democracy studies.

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