A man in his early 20s from Guanajuato, Carlos Jesús González Mendoza, was killed in action while fighting as a volunteer in the Ukrainian army against Russian forces, Mexico’s Foreign Affairs Ministry (SRE) confirmed Wednesday.
González Mendoza joined the International Legion for the Territorial Defense of Ukraine just a month before his death. He reportedly was killed in a Russian airstrike targeting a Ukrainian military position.
Before joining up, he reportedly had been part of the Mexican National Guard and made money by working informally in a parking lot in his hometown, Juventino Rosas, a municipality about 40 km southwest of San Miguel de Allende in the state of Guanajuato.
The SRE said in a press release that it is providing consular assistance to his family and working with the Ukrainian government to repatriate his body to Mexico. The ministry also clarified that he was not a member of the Mexican armed forces.
Upon the news of González Mendoza’s death, many people took to social media to express their condolences to his family and to praise his bravery for volunteering to fight for Ukraine’s freedom.
His family expressed its gratitude for the support received from the Mexican government. In a statement released to the media, they described him as a loving and caring person who was passionate about helping others.
“Carlos was a wonderful son, brother, and friend,” his family noted. “He was always willing to lend a helping hand and was always there for us when we needed him. We will miss him dearly.”
A video of González Mendoza’s grandmother talking about the family’s loss was posted on social media.
Interviewed on Grandparents’ Day on Wednesday, Edith García said the family was informed a week ago of his death, which occurred on Aug. 22, according to some sources.
“He was on a mission. He really wanted to help people,” his abuela said. “He said he wanted to go help people, and recently when he arrived [in Ukraine] he contacted his mother and told her that he was helping a lot of elderly people, children who had been orphaned. That was all we knew…until they gave us the news [of his death].”
Earlier this year, various news sources, including the New York Times, reported that over 20,000 foreign volunteers from 52 countries had joined Ukraine’s fighting forces.
The New York Times led a 2022 article with an anecdote about a Mexican army veteran named Luis who was inspired to join up after he “saw a photo of a wounded pregnant woman being carried out of a Ukrainian maternity hospital after a Russian airstrike and was reminded of his sister.”
The digital news outlet Infobae, citing reports from the Russian Embassy in Mexico, reported that eight Mexicans had taken up arms for Ukraine from the beginning of the conflict through March 14 of this year. The newspaper Excelsior said the figure was 16, based on Russian media reports, and that three of the Mexicans had been confirmed dead as of March.
Ukrainians living in Mexico and Mexican supporters have also fundraiser and voiced support at marches in Mexico, and Ukrainian refugees have been welcomed en masse into Mexican cities. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky appeared via video conference before Mexican lawmakers in April 2023 to express gratitude for Mexico’s condemnation of the Russian invasion at the United Nations in 2022.
But Mexico’s government has refused Ukraine’s requests for military aid, though it did offer to help Russia and Ukraine negotiate a peace plan.
The news of González Mendoza’s death first emerged on a Telegram platform dedicated to information about the war. The channel included links to his social networks, where he reportedly described himself as an “experienced killer.”
The Juventino Rosas community noted that a rosary and mass will be held on Saturday for González Mendoza, who was 21 years old according to some news sources and 20 according to others.
“He was a young volunteer soldier who gave his life for Ukraine’s fight for freedom,” noted journalist Gia Santos, a contributor to UkraineToday and other media outlets. “May his sacrifice be remembered forever.”
With reports from Infobae, Aristegui Noticias and Excelsior
