A 22-year-old US Marine veteran was killed after being hired to fight for Ukraine, reports say

• A US Marine veteran has died while fighting in Ukraine, his family told CNN and Fox News.
• CNN reported that Willy Joseph Cancel, 22, was killed Monday. He had a wife and an infant son.

A 22-year-old American citizen was killed in Ukraine after being hired to fight for the nation, CNN reported on Thursday, citing an interview with the man's family.

Willy Joseph Cancel, a US Marine veteran, was paid by a private military contracting company to take part in combat in Ukraine, Cancel's mother, Rebecca Cabrera, told the outlet.

CNN reported that Cancel was killed Monday. It said his mother had been told her son's body hadn't yet been recovered.

Cabrera told CNN that Cancel had a full-time job as a corrections officer in Tennessee and took up part-time work with the military company before the war in Ukraine began.

When contractors were sought to fight in Ukraine, Cancel agreed to go, per the outlet. His mother said he flew to Poland on March 12 and crossed into Ukraine soon after.

"He wanted to go over because he believed in what Ukraine was fighting for, and he wanted to be a part of it to contain it there so it didn't come here and that maybe our American soldiers wouldn't have to be involved in it," Cabrera said, per CNN.

Cancel is survived by his wife and a 7-month-old son. His widow, Brittany Cancel, told Fox News her husband's "main mission in life" was helping others, which motivated him to travel to Ukraine.

"My husband was very brave and a hero," she said, per Fox News. "I did not expect to be a widow at 23 years old or for our son to be without a father. All I want is for him to come home and to give him the proper burial he deserves."

An official from the State Department told CNN it was "aware of these reports" and was "closely monitoring the situation."

"We once again reiterate US citizens should not travel to Ukraine due to the active armed conflict and the singling out of US citizens in Ukraine by Russian government security officials, and that US citizens in Ukraine should depart immediately if it is safe to do so, using any commercial or other privately available ground transportation options," the official said, per the outlet.

The State Department didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.

Earlier Thursday, the UK Foreign Office confirmed a British national had been killed while fighting in Ukraine and said it was urgently seeking information about another British citizen who had gone missing there.

The slain Briton is believed to be a 36-year-old former British soldier who served in the Royal Logistic Corps.

Ukraine has appealed for foreign volunteers to travel to Ukraine to help fight off its Russian invaders, forming a foreign legion in late February. A Ukrainian official told CNN in early March that more than 20,000 people from more than 50 countries had joined the force.