Journalist-turned-soldier Oleksandr Mashlay killed in action near Avdiivka

A former journalist who joined the ranks of Ukraine's Armed Forces at the start of Russia's full-scale invasion was killed in action, a parliamentary committee announced on May 8.

Oleksandr Mashlay was killed on a combat mission in the Avdiivka direction in Donetsk Oblast on May 7, the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Freedom of Speech said in a post on Facebook.

He is survived by a wife and two sons.

Mashlay was the former editor-in-chief of the Pravyi Postup outlet.

"According to the Institute of Mass Information, Oleksandr became the 80th media worker who died as a result of Russian aggression against Ukraine," the committee said.

"Oleksandr was brought up in Plast - the National Scout Organization of Ukraine, was an activist in Rivne Oblast and Volyn, and a member of the Youth Nationalist Congress. In 2004, he was a co-coordinator of the PORA civic campaign in Rivne Oblast."

Other journalists-turned-soldiers killed in action include Petro Tsurukin, a former editor-in-chief of the One for All project on STB TV channel and a host of Kyiv Live TV channel, who died last month.