Marine Veteran From Texas Severely Injured In Ukraine Fighting - Statement

EL PASO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 16th August, 2022) Marine veteran Alex Ortiz from El Paso, Texas, has been severely injured while fighting in Ukraine amid Russia's special military operation there, the Ortiz family said in a statement on Monday.

"When the war broke out in Ukraine, he immediately purchased a one way plane ticket, got the vaccine, quit his $30 Dollar an hour job, quit his electricians school and went and joined the Ukrainian Army," the statement said. "Alex was hit by a rocket and seriously injured in late April."

Ortiz, 25, has been in a neurological intensive care unit after suffering a traumatic brain injury in Ukraine, the statement said.

The statement said Ortiz also lost a part of his intestines from shrapnel wounds as well as his right eye.

At least five US citizens have been killed while fighting in Ukraine amid Russia's special military operation there.

Russia launched the operation on February 24 after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk requested help to defend them from intensifying attacks by Ukrainian troops.