A volunteer soldier died while trying to rescue people in eastern Ukraine, an inquest heard.

Parachute Regiment veteran Simon Lingard, 38, suffered ‘unsurvivable’ injuries to his head and chest when he was caught in artillery fire in the city of Bakhmut.

The Preston man had joined the International Legion after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year. He was serving with special forces unit ‘A3449’ when he was killed.

In a statement, the mother of his children Stacey Longworth said she received a call from Mr Lingard’s unit-mate ‘Josh’ at around 7pm on November 7.

He told her that Simon had been killed earlier that day while they were under attack, she said. ‘Josh’ said he had carried Mr Lingard’s body back.

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Ms Longworth later received a call from her former partner’s sergeant, saying the unit had been trying to rescue Ukrainians on the day of the attack.

His body was recovered and post-mortems were carried out both in Ukraine and, after he was repatriated, at the direction of the Oxfordshire coroner.

Hearing the inquest at Oxford Coroner’s Court on Wednesday (August 23), the county’s senior coroner Darren Salter recorded a narrative conclusion.

Last year, Mr Lingard was described by his family as a ‘real-life hero’ who died ‘fighting for what he believed in'. 

Speaking to the Oxford Mail's sister paper the Lancashire Telegraph last November, Ms Longworth said: “He was such a good dad and the kids absolutely loved him. We can’t believe he’s gone.”