Who Was James Jimmy Hill? US Citizen Killed By Russian Snipers While Waiting In ‘Bread Line’

An American man, James “Jimmy” Hill, born in Minnesota was killed in Ukraine,

James “Jimmy” Hill, who was born in Minnesota, had shared social media updates from inside a Ukrainian hospital for weeks.

James was living in Chernihiv, a city about two hours north of Kyiv, to help care for his partner Ira, who was being treated at a local hospital for multiple sclerosis.

Hill’s sister, Katya, told KARE 11’s Sharon Yoo that the family received confirmation of Jimmy’s death through the U.S. Embassy.

The State Department confirmed Thursday that an American was killed by Russian shelling in Chernihiv, but did not confirm the person’s identity.

For the last two weeks, Hill, who had a degree in social work and lectured about forensic psychology at universities in Ukraine and across Europe, described the conditions inside the Chernihiv hospital in daily Facebook posts and provided updates on Russian bombings and attacks.

“Center of city has been on fire for 3-4 hours. I can see an orange sky over city. They are trying to terrorize the population here”, he posted.

Most people in Hospital to tired or sick to go in cold basement bunker,” he wrote on March 3.

Over the next two weeks, Hill’s posts shared news of food shortages and power outages, air raids and bombings. He described the sound of machine gun fire outside the hospital.

Hill shared his last Facebook posts on March 15.

Katya explained that Hill moved to Kyiv in the 1990s, and recently would spend half the year in the United States and the other half in Ukraine, taking various teaching positions in order to spend time with and care for Ira.

Hill, Ira and Ira’s mother were in the Chernihiv hospital for MS treatment several days before Russia started bombing in city.

Once the attacks started, the three remained stuck inside the hospital, sometimes without power, gas or running water. Katya said she doesn’t know Ira’s condition.

“He really loved her so deeply,” Katya said. “In this world it’s hard to find your soulmate, and that’s how he referred to Ira. As his soulmate.”

Because of the ongoing war, Katya said she doesn’t anticipate being able to retrieve her brother’s body, but hopes to get confirmation that he was laid to rest in some way.

Katya said she’d like to do something in Minnesota to honor Jimmy’s memory and their family roots; both of her parents are buried in Fort Snelling.