Willinghton: Scientist from New Zealand killed in Ukraine helped save hundreds of lives, according to his parents, who spoke out on Wednesday. He volunteered in the volatile Donbas region.
According to Bagshaw's parents, Dame Sue and Phil Bagshaw, the 47-year-old dual citizen of New Zealand and the United Kingdom, Andrew Bagshaw, along with his British colleague Chris Parry, 28, was killed while attempting to rescue an elderly woman from the town of Soledar.
The Bagshaws claimed that they had just received confirmation of the deaths, which happened this month.
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They claimed that their son did not work for a humanitarian organisation and operated independently. They claimed that he fed abandoned animals and helped evacuate people from hazardous areas while also bringing food, water, and medicine to people in need.
Russia claimed this month that it had retaken the salt-mining town of Soledar, marking a rare recent victory in the 11-month conflict. Soledar has seen intense military action.
Bagshaw's parents said that although Ukrainian authorities were coordinating with New Zealand and British officials, it might take some time before their son's body was returned from the mortuary of a children's hospital in the capital city of Kyiv.
Chris Hipkins, the prime minister of New Zealand, stated that although he had already received some preliminary information, he hadn't been officially briefed about the death.
Hipkins said, "I just want to offer my condolences to the Bagshaw family. "I haven't had a chance to personally tell them that yet. They are obviously in a very tragic situation.
According to Hipkins, Ukraine offers very little in the way of consular assistance.
Reporters were told by Andrew Bagshaw's parents that their son was a humanitarian who had gone to Ukraine in April with just a backpack and a map.
He was very intelligent and had a strong sense of independence, according to Phil Bagshaw. He gave the situation in Ukraine a lot of thought and concluded that it was immoral. He believed that going there and providing assistance to those in need was the only constructive thing he could do. According to Phil Bagshaw, they feared for their son.
He added, "We did try to talk him out of going. We quickly came to the conclusion that it was pointless. We are incredibly proud of him. Sue Bagshaw remarked that he was a remarkable man. He was so talented and would have contributed so much to the field of research. So he did. He had a lot of papers printed, but he believed that people were more important.
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In an effort to ensure that their son's death wasn't in vain, the Bagshaws promised to talk to anyone who would listen about the conflict in Ukraine. Sue Bagshaw stated, "We implore the civilised nations of this world to stop this immoral invasion of Ukraine and assist them in purging an aggressor from their homeland. Seven nieces and nephews as well as a brother, two sisters, and a single parent were listed as the son's survivors by the Bagshaws.
