A former Inexperienced Beret who traveled to Ukraine to assist prepare troops there was killed in Bakhmut, his household has confirmed.
Nick Maimer, an Idaho man and 20-year army veteran, had been instructing English in Europe final 12 months when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
Russia’s infamous Wagner Group on Monday boasted about killing Maimer in fierce combating in Bakhmut, and his dying was later confirmed by his household to The Idaho Statesman.
Maimer’s uncle, Paul, recognized the physique seen in a video shared by Wagner founder Yevgeny Prigozhin as that of his nephew.
“He persevered via lots in his life. I had the utmost respect for him. Lots of people can study from who he was and what he had achieved in his brief life. In 45 years, he lived lots. He went over there as a humanitarian making an attempt to do good for this world,” Paul Maimer advised the Statesman.
Whereas watching the horror unfold in the course of the first days of the struggle, Maimer advised the Idaho Statesman he’d felt a “calling” to assist Ukrainians defend themselves in opposition to one in every of “essentially the most clear-cut unjust invasions in latest historical past.”
He arrived in Ukraine in Might 2022, and in line with a video he posted on Fb, he set out not to participate in fight, however to assist prepare Ukrainian troops.
“I used to be in Poland when the struggle began, and since I’m a retired soldier with lots of experience- I did over 20 years-I knew I might come assist them. However I didn’t essentially need to combat, as a result of I’ve lots of particular coaching on coaching international militaries,” he mentioned in a video shared on Fb.
In a later replace on his work coaching Ukrainian troops, he mentioned he was trying ahead to “a lot of good issues, a lot of good work to be executed, hopefully saving lives.”
He cautioned in opposition to American indifference to the struggle, noting that the bloodshed and violence is “not taking place to another person, it’s taking place to our fellow people.”
Maimer’s aunt, Cheri, advised The Day by day Beast the household supported his touring to Ukraine to assist them fend off Russian forces.
She mentioned it had been troublesome to maintain in shut contact with him given his location, however that the household had made a degree to verify his Fb profile to ensure he was nonetheless lively and alive.
Upon first arriving in Ukraine, Maimer had briefly linked up with the Mozart Group, a personal army firm made up of Western volunteers with army expertise.
After that, Maimer started working with a nonprofit group providing assist with evacuations and provides for Ukraine, AFGFree. The founding father of that group, Perry Blackburn, a retired lieutenant colonel, advised the Statesman he’d reached out to Maimer to ask him to assist with coaching for Ukraine’s Territorial Protection Pressure.
The 2 put collectively a coaching program they hoped Ukrainian commanders would quickly start implementing for brand spanking new recruits, with Blackburn describing Maimer because the chief of that program final June.
Blackburn advised the Statesman that Maimer had been offering “firsthand coaching” to Ukrainian troops when he “received caught behind enemy strains” in Bakhmut.
“It’s only a loopy, loopy time proper now. After which having Nick die over there, it’s simply brutal,” he mentioned.
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