Nearly 20,000 foreign volunteers, including former U.K. Veterans join Ukraine

Nearly 20,000 foreign volunteers have signed up to fight alongside Ukrainian forces against the Russian invasion, according to Ukrainian officials, Kyiv Independent reports.

A British soldier has gone absent without leave and may be trying to head to Ukraine, an Army source has confirmed to the BBC.

The Ministry of Defence did not confirm the report that an active soldier bought a ticket to Poland as the Sun reported. .

Nor has it confirmed reports that three British veterans were killed in the battles in Ukraine.

BBC reports that hundreds of U.K. Veterans want to join the fight in Ukraine.

A spokesperson said all service personnel are banned from travelling to Ukraine until further notice. The official Government policy is “The FCDO advises against all travel to Ukraine.”

“This applies whether the service person is on leave or not,” they added. “Personnel travelling to Ukraine will face disciplinary and administrative consequences.”

This follows earlier reporting that Russia was also planning to deploy experienced mercenaries from Russian Private Military Companies to support the invasion. Russia this week has also been forced to acknowledge the use of conscript soldiers in its operations against Ukraine.

MOD does not address the fact that Ukrainian teens are sent to war with three days of training: Students Maksym, 19 and Dmytro, 18, volunteered for the Ukrainian army and received just three days of basic training before being sent to war.  Speaking to the BBC’s Jeremy Bowen, the young soldiers talked about their nerves and how their families feel about their situation.

After 14 days of the war, according to the Ukrainian general staff, at 6 March, Russian casualties were assessed to include 285 tanks, 985 armoured fighting vehicles, 109 artillery systems, 50 multiple launch rocket systems, 44 aircraft, 48 helicopters and 11,000 soldiers, who have lost their lives needlessly. There are numerous reports of surrenders and desertions by the ever-growingly disillusioned Russian army. To be clear, those are Ukrainian figures; I have to caution the House that we have not verified them by defence intelligence or other means.

I can announce to the House our assessment that, of the initial Russian objectives, only one has been successfully achieved. While Russian forces are in control of Kherson, Melitopol and Berdyansk in southern Ukraine, they currently encircle the cities of Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv and Mariupol but are not in control of them. In addition, their first day objective of targeting Ukrainian air defence has failed, preventing total air dominance. The Ukrainian armed forces have put up a strong defence while mobilising the whole population. President Putin’s arrogant assumption that he would be welcomed as a liberator has deservedly crumbled as fast as his troops’ morale.

For our part, the United Kingdom continues to play a leading role in supporting Ukraine. On 17 January, I announced to the House the Government’s intention to supply military aid to the Ukrainian armed forces. The aid took the form of body armour, helmets, boots, ear defenders, ration packs, rangefinders and communication equipment, and for the first time it also included weapons systems. The initial supply was to be 2,000 new light anti-tank weapons (NLAWs), small arms and ammunition.

In response to further acts of aggression by Russia, we have now increased that supply. I can update the House that, as of today, we have delivered 3,615 NLAWs and continue to deliver more. We will shortly be starting the delivery of a small consignment of anti-tank Javelin missiles as well. I want to assure the House that everything we do is bound by the decision to supply defensive systems and is calibrated not to escalate to a strategic level.

Britain was the first European country to supply lethal aid. I was pleased that not long after a military aid donor conference I held on 25 February, many more countries decided to do the same. From right across Europe, the donations came. In particular, I want to highlight the Netherlands, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Poland, Romania, the Baltic states, Belgium and Slovenia for their leadership, and we should not ignore the significance of the German Government joining us, in a change of stance, and donating such aid.

To date, the international community has donated more than 900 man-portable air defence missiles and thousands of anti-tank guided weapons of varying types, as well as various small arms. However, the capability needs strengthening, so in response to Ukrainian requests the Government have taken the decision to explore the donation of Starstreak high-velocity, man-portable anti-air missiles. We believe that this system will remain within the definition of defensive weapons, but will allow the Ukrainian forces to better defend their skies. We shall also be increasing supplies of rations, medical equipment, and other non-lethal military aid.

The sanctimonious War Propaganda coming from the MOD is totally oblivious of the role the U.K. played in NATO and the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and other war zones. But the sale of Military Assets is promising in the conflict zones.