Commander of Ukrainian fighting unit 'sent home British soldier, 21, who was on active duty'

The commander of a Ukrainian international fighting unit has told GB News that he sent home a 21-year-old British man who came to fight against the Russians.

A small number of serving British personnel are believed to have gone absent without leave to join the resistance against the Russian invasion, while veterans and Britons without combat experience have also travelled to Ukraine.

Boris Johnson warned they would face court martial on their return to the UK, as Ministry of Defence (MoD) chiefs have banned all service personnel from travelling to Ukraine “until further notice”.

Armed forces minister James Heappey said: “It is illegal for British service personnel to first of all go absent without leave in the first place, but to go absent without leave in order to fight in a foreign war is simply unacceptable, and frankly risks the United Kingdom being wrongly claimed by Russia to be a belligerent in this.

“Service people who might think they are doing the right thing should reflect it is 100% not the correct thing to be doing.”

He said he had heard a small number of serving troops – around three or four – had gone to Ukraine.

Mamuka Mamulashvili, Commander of Georgian Legion in Ukraine told GB News: "It is not new for us to work with British or American soldiers.

"We do not accept guys who are currently on active duty. There was a guy from the United Kingdom, a young guy, as I understood he was on active duty.

"We bought him a ticket back and we sent him back. It is unacceptable for us, it can cause political disagreement so we try not to accept those who are on active duty.

"They have never joined us and they will not join us."

Speaking to Dan Wootton, he reflected on the reasons behind his decision to send the man home.

He continued: "He was 21-years-old, I recommended him not to join us.

"He has a bright future. I appreciate that he came and tried to join us, he was doing it with all his heart. I really appreciate it, he wanted to give his life for something good.

"Every man can help us but I don’t want them to spoil their future.

"On battlegrounds their forces are doing zero efficiency, by trying to assault our positions but they did not take into account the motivations of Ukrainian women, children or men.

"Ukraine is undefeated, they are fighting for democratic orders, freedom and they will never give up, we will never give them up."

The interventions of Brits follow comments from Foreign Secretary Liz Truss on February 27 saying she would “absolutely” support Britons going to fight “if that’s what they want to do”.

Some veterans have reportedly received cold call approaches from private militia groups inviting them to join the fighting in Ukraine.