TAIPEI: A Taiwanese man who volunteered to fight in Ukraine has died on the battlefield, Taipei’s foreign ministry said, believed to be the first person from the island killed in the conflict.
The ministry said a Ukrainian field commander had confirmed the death of 25-year-old Tseng Sheng-kuang, who was serving with a battalion of volunteer soldiers.
A cause of death was not given by the ministry but Taiwan’s semi-official Central News Agency (CNA) said he was injured during combat in the eastern city of Luhansk and died from blood loss.
“We express our sincere condolences for our countryman who sacrificed his life in the war in Ukraine, and pay tribute to his spirit of assisting the Ukrainians in defending freedom and democracy,” the ministry said in a statement late Saturday.
Tseng is thought to be the first Taiwanese casualty of the war in Ukraine.
The ministry said it would help Tseng’s family with arrangements to travel to Ukraine to identify the body.
CNA said Tseng was an army veteran from Taiwan’s indigenous Amis minority.
His wife told the news agency that Tseng travelled to Ukraine in June and they had last been in touch on Oct 23 when Tseng said he was about to begin a five-day mission.