British paratrooper killed by explosion in Ukraine, coroner rules
3 hours ago
Matt Spivey
Ministry of Defence
L/Cpl George Hooley
A British paratrooper was killed by an explosion while assisting Ukrainian troops in the war with Russia, a coroner has ruled.
An inquest, conducted partly in secret this week, into L/Cpl George Hooley's death found he had "sustained multiple injuries from an explosion" on 6 December 2025.
Hooley, 28, died from his injuries in a hospital in Kyiv three days later - the first British service member to die in Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Darren Salter, senior coroner for Oxfordshire, said he had been provided with "limited evidence" about the circumstances and cause of the explosion but Hooley's death was "not suspicious".
The location of the explosion is also unknown, other than that it was away from the front line.
L/Cpl Hooley's commanding officer told military police investigators he "heard a sudden loud bang and saw a flash" shortly after they arrived to meet Ukrainian troops.
The commanding officer added he "had his back to the explosion and did not see what had caused it but could tell the bang had come from where L/Cpl Hooley was".
The coroner's report said Hooley had been transferred from at least one other hospital in Ukraine before his death in the capital.
L/Cpl George Hooley
A British paratrooper was killed by an explosion while assisting Ukrainian troops in the war with Russia, a coroner has ruled.
An inquest, conducted partly in secret this week, into L/Cpl George Hooley's death found he had "sustained multiple injuries from an explosion" on 6 December 2025.
Hooley, 28, died from his injuries in a hospital in Kyiv three days later - the first British service member to die in Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Darren Salter, senior coroner for Oxfordshire, said he had been provided with "limited evidence" about the circumstances and cause of the explosion but Hooley's death was "not suspicious".
The location of the explosion is also unknown, other than that it was away from the front line.
L/Cpl Hooley's commanding officer told military police investigators he "heard a sudden loud bang and saw a flash" shortly after they arrived to meet Ukrainian troops.
The commanding officer added he "had his back to the explosion and did not see what had caused it but could tell the bang had come from where L/Cpl Hooley was".
The coroner's report said Hooley had been transferred from at least one other hospital in Ukraine before his death in the capital.
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