More than 20 Americans are missing in action in Ukraine, with rising casualties among foreign volunteers filling gaps in Ukraine’s defenses, CNN reports.

At least five American fighters have been killed in the past six months, with some bodies still unrecovered.

Two were repatriated from Russian-held territory after negotiations.

Survivors describe intense battles, poor leadership, and devastating losses.

Families of the missing struggle with grief, legal limbo, and online harassment, CNN has reported.

Efforts to identify and repatriate the dead are ongoing, with over 88 cases of missing or deceased foreign fighters, half of them American.

Written by B.C. Begley