An ex-British soldier who was helping the Ukrainian army was “unlawfully” killed far from the frontline by a “comrade” last year, a UK coroner’s inquest ruled Friday.
Daniel Burke from Manchester, northwest England, was volunteering with Ukrainian forces to help the wounded when he was reported missing in August 2023.
One month later, his remains were found with “multiple gunshot wounds” near a training ground in Zaporizhzhia on Ukraine’s southern front with Russia.
The suspect, named as Abdelfetah “Adam” Nourine by Ukrainian authorities and Manchester police, is an Australian-Algerian dual national who was fighting for the Ukrainian army.
He is “also known as “Jihadi Adam””, and is currently on the run from Ukrainian authorities, according to a Manchester police statement.
Nourine, who was not named in the inquest, had initially told local police that he accidentally killed Burke during training exercises.
“Whilst there was evidence initially presented that it was an accident, I reject that based on evidence gathered by Ukrainian authorities and Greater Manchester Police,” coroner Zak Golombeck said.
Burke “was unarmed and unable to defend himself”, the court was told.
The court heard a post-mortem examination found that he had been shot at least three times, in his head, lower neck and chest.
Burke’s family said in a statement that following the inquest, they were still “yearning for answers”.
“We are hopeful that the Ukraine authorities will progress the investigation into Daniel’s death and we hope one day we will be able to say that we have justice for Daniel,” the family said.