His family has been informed that the body of a 24-year-old soldier slain while engaged in combat in Ukraine is currently being detained as part of a war crimes investigation.
Joshua Jones, a US soldier, was murdered on August 26 in the Donbas region while serving with the Ukrainian Foreign Legion.
After he passed away, Russian military kept his body in custody for a number of weeks while his family attempted to return him to the US.
After talks between the two nations, Joshua’s family was informed that the body had been repatriated to Ukraine and was on its way there.
His family has now been informed that his body won’t be sent back just yet, as Russia has delayed his homecoming as part of a war crimes inquiry.
Misty Gossett, Joshua’s mother, lashed out at the decision to put off his return after telling NBC News that they only want to bury their son.
She said: “Every day this gets prolonged and we’re just trying to put him to rest.”
In addition to making funeral arrangements while they wait for Joshua’s body, Misty claimed that the family has been prepared for their son’s homecoming.
However, she claimed that Ukrainians had called the family to inform them that a second autopsy was necessary and that family members needed to give a DNA sample for analysis as well. As a result, the family is still waiting.
But they didn’t say what sort of testing was required.
The information comes barely a week after her family was informed that Joshua would be given back to them once they had worked out an arrangement for his return.
CNN observed the completion of the removal of Joshua’s remains to the Zaporizhzhia area on October 26.
A two-hour cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine was reached after extensive negotiations between the two nations.
Jeff Jones, Joshua’s father, was overheard by CNN on a tearful phone call saying: “He’s back with us now. I can’t begin to express how much weight is off this family’s shoulders. I was unable to abandon that hope.”
