Newbridge Soldier's Remains Recovered In Ukraine

Thursday, 17 October 2024 14:34

By Martin Osborne

The 29-year-old's remains were located on Wednesday by members of Stugna, the Ukrainian special forces unit he served with.

The body of Newbridge man Robert Deegan, a former Irish soldier who was killed fighting in Ukraine last month, has been recovered by Ukrainian special forces.

The 29-year-old's remains were located on Wednesday by members of Stugna, the Ukrainian special forces unit he served with.

Deegan, a former member of the Irish Defence Force's elite Army Ranger Wing, traveled to Ukraine in 2022 to fight against the Russian invasion.

He was killed near the city of Kupiansk in the Kharkiv region.

The Stugna unit had been deployed to push back incursions by Russian forces attempting to recapture the area.

The ongoing fighting in the region made it impossible to recover his remains until now.

Deegan's body is currently being stored in a morgue in Kharkiv.

It will soon be transported to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv before being prepared for repatriation back to Ireland.

The Irish embassy in Kyiv has been alerted of the development and has been liaising with the Deegan family in Ireland.

Deegan, who was previously awarded a medal for bravery by the Ukrainian Armed Forces, was injured in an explosion.

He suffered serious facial injuries, including the loss of an eye, and returned to Ireland for medical treatment.

Earlier this year, he returned to Ukraine.

Deegan joined the Defence Forces in 2014 and became a member of the Army Ranger Wing (ARW) just three years later.

He came from a well-known military family.

After leaving the Defence Forces, he worked as a firefighter in Athy and as a private military contractor before traveling to Ukraine.

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