The Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces (TDF) announced the immediate suspension of its Florida-born transgender spokesman, Junior Sergeant Sarah Ashton-Cirillo on Wednesday, September 20th, over unauthorized anti-Russian statements that even Kyiv thought went way over the line.
Ashton-Cirillo’s recent comments “were not approved by the command of the TDF or the command of the [Ukrainian Armed Forces]. When conducting military operations against the aggressor, the defense forces of Ukraine strictly observe the norms of international humanitarian law,” the TDF said in their statement on X, adding that the former spokesman is now under investigation and “appropriate decisions will be taken.”
Although the TDF did not specify the problematic comments, Ashton-Cirillo was most likely fired because of a chilling rant posted last week, in which the spokesman branded Russians as ‘rabid devils’ and vowed to hunt down all Kremlin propagandists:
The teeth of the Russian devils will gnash ever harder, and their rabid mouths will foam an uncontrollable frenzy as the world will see a favorite Kremlin propagandist pay for their crimes. And this puppet of Putin is only the first. Russia’s war criminal propagandists will all be hunted down and justice will be served.
Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ashton-Cirillo worked as an investigative journalist and Syrian war correspondent for U.S.-based publications, as well as a self-described “political operative” who infiltrated prominent Republican circles and alleged right-wing groups, such as the Proud Boys, in the aftermath of the 2020 U.S. elections.
Shortly after arriving in Ukraine in March 2022 and settling in Kharkiv, Ashton-Cirillo began to develop close ties with the Ukrainian armed forces while reporting on the war. The American later moved to Kyiv and enlisted as a combat medic in the AFU last summer, while also continuing the pro-Ukraine online activism with over 150,000 X (Twitter) followers.
Close to the Donbas region in February this year, the journalist was wounded in a Russian shelling and was promoted to Junior Sergeant in April following recovery. A month later, Ashton-Cirillo traveled to Washington to meet with members of the U.S. congressmen as a representative of Ukraine, and, in June, was appointed as the TDF’s English-language media spokesman.
In a recent interview with AFP, Ashton-Cirillo talked about learning to “embrace the hate of Russians” while serving on the front while becoming the subject of frequent transphobe harassment even from Russian state-affiliated media personalities.
The former army medic also told AFP that the TDF had provided their spokesman with full editorial control over the production of the videos, which, in hindsight, is what probably led to the suspension. “I’m sure my command gets a little bit anxious over what might be coming. However, they appreciate my work,” Ashton-Cirillo told the paper less than two weeks before being fired.
