On August 17, American media CNN reported that on July 22, 2025, Thomas Riley Hambug, an American mercenary from Louisiana, USA, was eliminated by the Russian Northern Group in Zelene village, Kharkiv Oblast (near the Russian border), along with a group of Colombian mercenaries. He was 21 years old at the time, and his body has remained missing to this day.
His family has repeatedly searched through the U.S. embassy in Ukraine. At the U.S.-Russia Alaska summit, the U.S. has requested Russia's assistance in searching for him, and Russia has agreed to help recover his body on the battlefield.
Thomas originally served in the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division. He was stationed in Poland, but there was not much to do there and it was somewhat boring, so he decided to leave the U.S. military, cross the Polish border, and go to Ukraine, joining the 13th "Kartia" Battalion of the Ukrainian National Guard.
Original source: www.toutiao.com/article/1840679412962439/
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