British fighters have described the ‘honour’ of battling in Ukraine despite the daily threat of death in a tell-all film about life on the front line.
The soldiers, comprising former servicemen and those with no prior military experience, admitted friends described them as ‘crazy’ for joining the legions of international volunteers who answered the call to defend Ukrainian territories following Vladimir Putin‘s invasion a year ago.
Civilian James Dee disclosed how he shot dead a Russian soldier at close range during a tense stand-off in the key city of Kharkiv, seconds after the Russian killed fellow British volunteer Craig Mackintosh, a landscape gardener from Thetford, in Norfolk.
Mr Dee said: ‘He [the Russian] dropped to the floor, goes to raise his gun, so I shot him six times.
‘I heard behind me: ”Craig’s dead”.
‘After that fire fight I looked down and I cried. Not because I was scared. But seeing it up close and personal, you’re having a laugh with someone and life’s just gone within the click of the fingers.’
Ex-British Army soldier James Chadwick practises firing at a makeshift range in Ukraine
British members of the Carpathian Sich battalion ride a tank towards the front line
British soldiers are pictured alongside their unit which made up the Carpathian Sich battalion
Civilian James Dee disclosed how he shot dead a Russian soldier who had just killed a fellow volunteer in a tense stand-off in the key city of Kharkiv
James Dee is pictured recovering from the shock of a nearby tank shell explosion on the front line in Ukraine
The testimony, which includes candid mobile phone footage from soldiers in action, features in a joint investigation by the BBC’s Our World series and Newsnight, produced and presented by Emma Vardy.
In another excerpt, a British Army veteran nicknamed Rambo described how he was itching to return to the Ukrainian front line, despite being repeatedly shot at and severely injured by Russian troops.
Shareef Amin, who is currently undergoing reconstructive surgery at Bristol’s Southmead Hospital, said he originally felt compelled to ‘step up to the plate’ and join the war effort, as he wanted to be ‘true to myself as a human being’.
He said: ‘There is nothing else in this world I want more than to be there with my boys.
‘If it means that much to you, then you’re not going to start something you ain’t going to finish. It’s an honour.
‘I’d do it all again now.
‘It’s not that we love killing or bloodshed, it’s that in those situations humanity really does shine through.’
Last night Scotland Yard said it was investigating 100 referrals of alleged war crimes relating to the conflict on behalf of the International Criminal Court.
Head of counter-terror policing Matt Jukes said the referrals had mostly come from individuals who had fled to Britain following the invasion, or from their friends and family members.
Evidence is being collated to help support future prosecutions.
Shareef Amin, from Bristol, had to undergo reconstructive surgery after being severely wounded
‘I’d do it all again now. It’s not that we love killing or bloodshed, it’s that in those situations humanity really does shine through,’ Shareef said
British troops are pictured as part of a volunteer unit in Ukraine
Members of the Carpathian Sich battalion ride on a tank towards the front line
It came as Western officials admitted there was no end in sight of the war, amid fears Putin is planning a spring offensive on Ukraine from the air, despite Russian casualties reported to number in excess of 1,000 a day.
A source said: ‘I think they still hope they can outlast Ukraine’s determination to defend themselves and that they can outlast international unity.
‘They are prepared to sacrifice their young and the future of their country in order to reap this devastation on Ukraine and seek to exert the control they are seeking to exert.’
The source said they hoped Ukrainian success on the battlefield – boosted by Nato plans to increase the delivery of anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine – would cause the Kremlin to call a halt to its offensive, but admitted it was optimistic rather than realistic.
Volunteers have travelled across the world to fight on behalf of Ukraine against the Russian invasion
Several British and international fighters have been killed
They said: ‘At the moment I think they [Russia] think they can continue. They don’t admit [the number of] deaths, so they are making it as hard as they can for anyone to have estimates.
‘We think they are in trouble, but how much trouble and when that bites, I think it’s impossible to say at the moment. I don’t see an early end.’
But they added: ‘They [Russia] have lost a lot of people. Fundamentally, it’s still not going well, it’s not going to plan.’
Earlier, the president of Belarus – Russia’s greatest Western ally – confirmed he would again allow his country to be a staging post for the Kremlin to dispatch further troops into Ukraine.
Alexander Lukashenko told the BBC he was ‘ready to provide territory’, and even send his own soldiers into battle in extreme circumstances.
He said: ‘I am also ready to wage war, alongside the Russians, from the territory of Belarus.
‘But only if someone – even a single soldier – enters our territory from Ukraine with weapons to kill my people.’
Next week sees several significant dates in the Russian calendar, including Putin’s annual address to the nation, the patriotic Defender of the Fatherland day, and, a week today, the one-year anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine.
The film Brits in Battle: Ukraine is available on BBC iPlayer now.
