Back Sarah Ashton-Cirillo German Sarah Ashton-Cirillo Spanish Sarah Ashton-Cirillo Estonian سارا اشتون-سیریلو Persian Эштон-Чирилло, Сара Russian Сара Ештон-Сірілло Ukrainian 莎拉·阿什頓-西里洛 Chinese
Sarah Ashton-Cirillo | |
|---|---|
Сара Ештон-Сірілло | |
 Ashton-Cirillo in August 2023 | |
| Born | 9 July 1977 North Florida, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Sarah Ashton, Sarah Cirillo, Blonde |
| Occupation(s) | Journalist, activist, spokesperson, political operative and candidate, combat medic |
| Years active | 2020–present |
| Employers |
|
| Political party | Democratic (U.S.) |
| Children | 1 |
| Military career | |
| Allegiance |  Ukraine |
| Service/ | Armed Forces of Ukraine |
| Years of service | October 2022–present |
| Rank | Junior sergeant
 |
| Unit | Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces (headquarters) Noman Çelebicihan Battalion 209th Battalion (113th Kharkiv Defense Brigade) |
Sarah Ashton-Cirillo[c] (born 9 July 1977), formerly Sarah Cirillo and Sarah Ashton, is an American former journalist who has worked as a spokesperson for Ukraine's Territorial Defense Forces, in which she is a junior sergeant. A self-described "recovering political operative"[9] from Las Vegas, Nevada, she was active in Nevada politics from 2020 to 2021, including an abortive run for Las Vegas City Council. She arrived in Ukraine in March 2022, shortly after the full-scale Russian invasion, and has variously served as a war correspondent, a representative in aid negotiations, a civilian analyst with the Ministry of Defense, and a combat medic.
Ashton-Cirillo drew national media attention in 2021 when she released records of conversations from her time working with Republican candidates, documenting efforts to recruit members of the Proud Boys, a far-right group, for a planned "Brooks Brothers Riot" (alluding to the 2000 demonstration)[10] as part of efforts to overturn the outcome of the 2020 United States presidential election. In 2022, she leaked a text exchange with the Republican nominee for Nevada Attorney General, which became a key controversy in that election.
Starting in March 2022, Ashton-Cirillo reported on the Russian invasion of Ukraine from Kharkiv, Ukraine, primarily for LGBTQ Nation, often writing about the war's effect on LGBTQ people. A trans woman, she is thought to have been the first openly transgender war correspondent[11] and the only transgender journalist covering the invasion.[12] In Kharkiv, she worked closely with the Ukrainian military and police, and was appointed by the mayor of Zolochiv, Kharkiv Oblast, as a representative to advocate with aid groups.[b] After witnessing and reporting on the October 2022 Kyiv missile strikes—including posting a controversial widely shared video that showed a dead body—she resigned from LGBTQ Nation to become a combat medic in Ukraine's Noman Çelebicihan Battalion, a Crimean Tatar unit. In February 2023, she was wounded by Russian shelling while serving on the front lines in the Donbas with the 209th Battalion of the 113th Kharkiv Defense Brigade. She was subsequently assigned to the Territorial Defense Forces, and became one of its English-language spokespeople in early August 2023; she was suspended in late September pending investigation of unspecified unapproved statements.[13]
- ^ Lavers 2022, referencing Zakharova 2022.
- ^ Smart 2022.
- ^ Ashton-Cirillo 2022k.
- ^ Lavers 2022.
- ^ Lavers 2022; Stanton 2023.
- ^ Passoth 2022.
- ^ Vorozhko 2022a; Ukrinform 2023.
- ^ Owen 2022.
- ^ LGBTQ Nation.
- ^ Scherer 2021.
- ^ Stanton 2023.
- ^ Zivo 2022a; O'Brien 2022, 7:18.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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