A U.S. citizen who had been caring for his partner in a Ukrainian hospital was killed by Russian fire as he waited in a bread line after briefly stepping out to buy food, his family said on Thursday.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken confirmed the death of an American, identified by his sisters as Jimmy Hill and mourned as “the helper that people could find in a crisis.”

One of his sisters, Katya Hill, told CNN he had stayed in the hospital in Chernihiv, the site of heavy Russian bombardment during its invasion, to be alongside his Ukrainian partner as she battled multiple sclerosis. “As things were deteriorating in the city … my brother was the one that was going out to the store to bring back what food he could find,” she told CNN.

Chernihiv police said an American had been killed by Russian shelling. Blinken did not offer any details.

At least 53 civilians have been killed in the frontline city of Chernihiv over the past 24 hours, said Viacheslav Chaus, the region’s governor. The toll could not be independently verified.

Russia denies targeting civilians in what it calls a “special operation” in Ukraine.

Source: Tap News Agency