An Irish military volunteer, Finbar Cafferkey, was tragically killed while fighting Russian forces in eastern Ukraine. Cafferkey, a previous combatant in Syria against the Islamic State, had volunteered to assist local forces in Ukraine. Reports of his passing were confirmed by his father, Tom Cafferkey, who declined to elaborate on the circumstances of his son’s death. Cafferkey was known in his local community on Achill Island for his commitment to humanitarian and environmental causes, including his involvement in the Shell to Sea campaign against the Corrib Gas project. While campaigners expressed their condolences to the Cafferkey family on their loss, the parliamentary assembly of the Council of Europe voted that the forced detention and deportation of children from Russian occupied territories of Ukraine is “genocide”, passing a resolution that demands Russia immediately stop the practice and give NGOs and charities access.
