A British father has been killed by a Russian drone strike on his first volunteer military mission in Ukraine.
Alan Robert Williams, 35, was killed in the Kharkiv Oblast region after signing up to fight for Ukrainian forces - despite having no military experience.
The former school site manager signed up to fight Vladimir Putin's forces in the face of his wife and 12-year-old daughter pleading him not to do so.
Alan Robert Williams, 35, was killed in the Kharkiv Oblast region after volunteering to fight for Ukrainian forces
After joining the Ukrainian unit on June 10, his family lost touch with him on July 2 after he was deployed on his first mission.
His wife, Stephanie Boyce-Williams, 40, was contacted two weeks later by her partner's colleagues in the unit, who told her that Williams had been killed by a Russian drone while attempting to retrieve foreign officers.
His comrades said that Williams became immediately unresponsive after getting hit, and they had to leave his body behind while they escaped from the Russian assault.
He has been declared as Missing in Action due to his body not being recovered.
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|Stephanie Boyce-Williams, 40, was contacted by her partner's colleagues in the unit, who told her that Williams had been killed
Boyce-Williams said: “We spent time trying to convince him not to go, telling him how it would affect us and how it would impact our daughter, and everything else back home.
“But he was such a strong-willed man that once he got something in his mind there was no way you were changing it. He wanted to help civilians, especially the children.”
The father was hospitalised early this year due to his mental health after becoming unemployed.
After his discharge from hospital, Williams signed up to volunteer for Ukraine because he “couldn’t sit back and watch” as Russian tanks rolled through Eastern Europe.
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Williams had signed up to fight Vladimir Putin's invading forces
The 35-year-old will not officially be declared deceased until his body is retrieved or unless his wife applies to Ukrainian courts after six months have passed.
However, this process can only be done in-person in Ukraine, and all paperwork submitted to the courts must be written in Ukrainian.
Due to Williams not being officially declared dead, his wife has not been able to claim any money in support.
She said: “We have lost Alan’s wage completely, which was half of our bills.
"I can’t claim anything with regards to being a widow until he is officially declared.
“I am not entitled to anything. I earn too much to claim any single person benefit and I have two adult children who count towards people in my house so I can’t claim anything at all.”
A spokesman for the Foreign Office confirmed that the department was “supporting the family of a British man who is missing in Ukraine, and is in contact with the local authorities”.