An Australian man who was hoping to “beat the odds” again on the battlefield in Ukraine has been killed, DFAT has confirmed.

Known by the call sign ‘Ninja’, Trevor Kjeldal had already been injured and hospitalised in July after taking up the fight to ‘support the people of Ukraine’.

He was reportedly killed while fighting in the Luhansk region.

Earlier this year the Brisbane man told Channel Nine he had no plans of returning to Australia after surviving shrapnel wounds to his head.

He said in October his battalion wanted to support the people of Ukraine and he would take his chances.

“Ukraine was in trouble and they needed people to help, so we came and helped,” he said.

“I beat the odds once so let’s just see if I can do it again, I suppose.”

Trevor Kjeldal brushed off the danger to ‘support the people of Ukraine’. Photo: Channel Nine

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese passed on his condolences to Mr Kjeldal’s family and friends on Saturday.

“This is tragic news. I remind people that the DFAT advice is that people do not travel to Ukraine,” he said during a press conference in Queensland.

“It is a dangerous place, but my heart goes out to the family and friends of the gentleman involved.”

Mr Kjeldal’s family said he was “very treasured and loved”.

“Our depth of sadness at his loss is unfathomable,” the family said in a statement.

“We would like to thank DFAT for their ongoing assistance in bringing him home to us.

“At this incredibly sad time, we would request that the media respect our privacy as we grieve.”

Consular assistance is being provided to Mr Kjeldal’s family, a DFAT spokesperson said on Saturday.

Consular assistance can include support and guidance to families and liaison with local and Australian authorities to assist with funeral arrangements or repatriation of remains.

The Australian Government’s advice for Ukraine remains at do not travel.

Russia ‘shooting’ its own troops

Meanwhile morale is apparently so low among Russian troops that the military may be shooting its own soliders to prevent them from deserting the fight.

The UK’s Defence Ministry says Russia has likely deployed so-called ‘barrier troops’ or ‘blocking units’ with the sole purpose of targeting its own troops.

“These units threaten to shoot their own retreating soldiers in order to compel offensives and have been used in previous conflicts by Russian forces,” said an intelligence briefing.

“Recently, Russian generals likely wanted their commanders to use weapons against deserters, including possibly authorising shooting to kill such defaulters after a warning had been given.”

Tweet from @DefenceHQ

It comes as Russian soldiers are being forced out of key positions in Ukraine, including Russian-occupied Kherson region where a Ukrainian counteroffensive is underway.

The UK intelligence said Russian generals were likely to want to force soliders to “maintain defensive positions to the death”.

“The tactic of shooting deserters likely attests to the low quality, low morale and indiscipline of Russian forces.”

Iran supplied Russia

Iran has acknowledged for the first time that it has supplied Moscow with drones but said they were sent before the war in Ukraine, where Russia has used them to target power stations and civilian infrastructure.

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said a “small number” of drones had been shipped a few months before Russia’s February 24 invasion.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Tehran of lying, saying Kyiv’s forces were downing at least 10 of the unmanned aerial vehicles every day.

In Iran’s most detailed response to date, Amirabdollahian denied Tehran was continuing to supply drones to Moscow.

“This fuss made by some Western countries that Iran has provided missiles and drones to Russia to help the war in Ukraine — the missile part is completely wrong,” the official IRNA news agency quoted him as saying.

“The drone part is true and we provided Russia a small number of drones months before the Ukraine war,” he said.

In recent weeks Ukraine has reported a surge in drone attacks on civilian infrastructure, notably targeting power stations and dams, using Iranian-made Shahed-136 drones. Russia denies its forces have used Iranian drones to attack Ukraine.

-with AAP