Australian Nick Parsons killed in Ukraine while clearing mines

The former member of the Australian Defence Force was killed while working on a humanitarian mission.

Members of the Prevail Together team working in Ukraine. Picture: Prevail Together / Facebook

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A former Australian Defence Force member killed in eastern Ukraine while clearing mines for an explosives disposal charity has been described as “a hero for Ukrainians” who was engaged in dangerous work close to the frontlines.

Nick Parsons, who was working for a US-registered organisation named Prevail Together, was killed last week in Izyum.

A Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokeswoman confirmed DFAT was “providing consular assistance to the family of an Australian man who died in Ukraine”.

Mr Parsons, believed to be from Queensland, had been working to clear mines and other unexploded ordnance in Ukraine following a long stint in the Australian Defence Force, which one source said he had recently left.

Izyum is a city in the Kharkiv Oblast region approximately 40km from the frontline.

Ukrainian ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko told The Australian on Monday Mr Parsons was “a hero for Ukrainians who was on a very important mission”.

“There are individuals like Nick Parsons who couldn’t sit on the couch, and decided to go and travel,” Mr Myroshnychenko said.

“I understand he was trained to be an engineer … I understand there was also another British guy who he was with, and both of them got killed, as mates being there, they got rid of unexploded ordnance as well as mines.”

Ukraine ambassador to Australia Vasyl Myroshnychenko in February: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

Mr Myroshnychenko said the size of the area that had to be de-mined because of Russia’s invasion in February 2022 – now into its third year – is larger than Switzerland.

“It’s certainly a dangerous job, as you can imagine, it’s kind of one of those 50-50, jobs, 50 per cent you’re going to live, 50 per cent you going die,” the ambassador said.

“It’s very sad and it’s tough news for everybody, he was a hero for us on a very important mission.

“(He was) very close to the frontlines, so that part of Ukraine, which is close to the Russian border, and where the frontlines are, it’s heavily mined, lots of unexploded ordnance, because Russians are shelling us all the time.”

In a social media post on May 7, Prevail Together said it had received “devastating news” that its founder and chairman, Christopher “Swampy” Garrett, and other team members had been “severely injured in an incident near Izyum”.

Mr Garrett was described on social media as “one of the best”, and had been engaged in mine clearing in Ukraine since 2014.

“Most people run from danger,” one mourner said.

“Swampy and his crew are true heroes for the work they do to as first responders, trainers and humanitarian mine action advocates. My thoughts are with the team and their families during this difficult time.”

At the outbreak of Russia’s invasion in February 2022 Mr Garrett had rushed to Ukraine to continue his work, where he described himself as an “explosive bin man”.

In an interview with The Times in May that year he said that not long after Kyiv was almost surrounded by Russian forces, he cleared tonnes of explosives in surrounding cities where they had left booby traps in doorways, washing machines, cupboards, car boots and even under the corpses of civilians.

He said that in order to stay calm he would smoke 40 cigarettes a day.

“I make sure that I get at least two coffees in before I go to work and don’t run out of cigarettes throughout the day. That’s how I roll,” he said.