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A U.S. citizen was killed in a Russian attack in the northern Ukrainian city of Chernihiv on Thursday (March 17). Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed the death but said he did not have any other details when asked during a State Department briefing.
While the man's identity has not been released, his sister identified him on Facebook as Jimmy Hill.
"My brother Jimmy Hill was killed yesterday in Chernihiv, Ukraine," Cheryl Hill Gordon wrote. "He was waiting in a bread line with several other people when they were gunned down by Russian military snippers. His body was found in the street by the local police."
Anton Gerashchenko, the adviser to the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine, also confirmed the death on Telegram, Newsweek reported. Gerashchenko said that Hill was one of several people who died in the city as a result of "heavy artillery" attacks by Russian forces. Hill's cause of death has not been officially determined and it is unknown if there is evidence that he was killed by Russian snipers.
Hill's death comes following the deaths of two U.S. journalists in recent days. Former New York Times journalist Brent Renaud was killed at a checkpoint in the city of Irpin, while Fox News cameraman Pierre Zakrzewski was killed in the village of Horenka a few days later.