British paratrooper named George Hooley killed in Ukraine 

A British Army soldier has become the first active serviceman to die since the full-scale war in Ukraine started. The UK Ministry of Defence reported this tragedy. The British paratrooper was identified as Lance Corporal George Hooley, 28, of the Parachute regiment.

The ministry claimed that the soldier perished due to a tragic accident during the process of monitoring testing of new weapons by Ukrainian forces. The accident happened quite a long way off the line, and no evidence of enemy fire was in sight.

The Sun states that he could be a fighter of the special forces, the Ministry of Defence has however denied this. 

PM Keir Starmer have his condolences to the family of the victim. Keir Starmer informed the Commons on Wednesday that Hooley had been killed on a non frontline test during a visit to Ukrainian military members when he was observing a test of a new defense system.

“His life was full of courage and determination,” Starmer said. “He served our country with honour and distinction around the world in the cause of freedom and democracy, including as part of the small number of British personnel in Ukraine. 

The UK authorities have indicated that the Kremlin could take advantage of this and manipulate this situation especially through misinformation on the supposed NATO participation in hostilities in Ukraine.

This tragedy is an indicator of the dangers of the worka of the small groups of British military people in Ukraine.

One of the servicemen was also reported to be injured in another horrible incident when he was surveilling the testing of the new defensive capabilities by the Ukrainian forces. 

The relatives of the deceased are already notified. The facts about the incident, such as the location of the tragic incident, are not being disclosed for security reasons. 

This event is a great reminder of the threats that can pose serious risks to servicemen even in the peace keeping operations. The reaction of the international community to this loss underlines the necessity to help Ukraine in the current aggression and the importance of being cautious about the possibility of information manipulation. It is also known that the similar incidents may influence the future relations between the countries and attitudes to military support of Ukraine. 

By the time Hooley died, more than 40 Britons were killed in Ukraine since the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022, although the death of a British soldier was the first publicly recognised.

Defence secretary, John Healey, said that he was thinking of the family of Hooley. He added Hooley had “served our country with distinction and professionalism. He was an exceptional soldier who will be very deeply missed.”