According to his obituary, published June 1 in The Recorder, a New York state newspaper, Zabielski “died on Sunday, May 15, 2022, while fighting in the village of Dorozhniank in Ukraine.” He was 52 years old and left behind his wife and five adopted children, obit said. Zabielski is the second American known to have been killed in fighting in Ukraine since Russia invaded the country in late February. Marine Corps veteran Willy Cancel was killed in April fighting alongside Ukrainian forces. He worked with a private military contractor. Recently, two American volunteers fighting for Ukraine, who had been missing since June 9, were arrested last week and detained by Russian-backed separatists in Donetsk, according to Russian state media. Alexander John-Robert Drueke, 39, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, 27, of Hartselle, Alabama, fought alongside Ukrainian forces north of Kharkiv. CNN reported that the third American whom the State Department had recognized as missing in the battle in Ukraine is the veteran of the American Marines Grady Kurpasi. The last time his wife and close friends heard about Kurpasi was in April. He chose to volunteer on the side of the Ukrainians in Ukraine, but at first he did not imagine himself fighting on the front lines, a family friend told CNN. U.S. citizens are among the many foreign nationals who had fled their homes to take part in the struggle in Ukraine. The United States has urged Americans not to travel to Ukraine at this time because of the active armed conflict and the “separation of American citizens in Ukraine” from the Russian government. This story has been updated with additional history information.
