The government has been issuing warnings after pleas asking both current and former UK soldiers to stay out of the fighting in Ukraine. Known as the “Lad’s Army,” this is a group of British folks putting their lives on the line against Russian forces. Two former UK soldiers have recently been captured by Russian forces.
The numbers headed into Ukraine are growing, but lawyers believe that the men who are helping Ukrainian forces could end up being treated as terrorists upon their return. The idea isn’t completely ludicrous; it’s happened before when some soldiers joined Kurdish militia fighting against ISIS.
Despite people like Liz Truss saying she would support those looking to fight, the Prime Minister has jumped in to clarify that it’s still a no go.
During a speech, he stated that he was distancing the official position from Truss’ statement. There have been several statements since confirming that current and former soldiers are not to head into Ukraine.
Despite the danger, men like Shaun Pinner and Aiden Aslin have continued to do what they can to help Ukraine. It’s disheartening that instead of lending support to them after their capture, authorities are calling their effort “illegal”. The statement came from Northern Ireland Secretary Brandon Lewis, and has been refuted by their families, who have pushed that the two were legitimate members of the Ukrainian military since they signed up in 2018. They both have dual citizenship, and have previously served in the UK military as well.
Nathan Wood, Aslin’s brother, told a media outlet i: “I would urge him to do his research and get his facts right. They have both been living in Ukraine for multiple years and are legally part of the Ukrainian armed forces.”
He added: “If they were in Ukraine illegally, they would have been dealt with accordingly by the Ukrainian authorities.”
Pinner’s sister, Cassandra Pinner, told i: “MPs need to check their facts. Our official statement from the Foreign Office explains my brother is an official Ukraine marine, following Ukraine legislation as a contract soldier.
“He has lived in Ukraine for four years. His wife is Ukrainian. He must not be labelled as a British mercenary or volunteer. He did not leave the UK to fight in this conflict.“
At the same time, Putin has reportedly launched a mission to hunt down SAS troops that have been fighting to help Ukrainian forces. The Kremlin’s Investigative Committee (IC) has issued a statement saying that it will examine “the facts of the activities of British SAS saboteurs in Ukrainian regions.”
An IC source claimed SAS operatives in Ukraine “are specialists in sabotage and partisan activities, recruiting and training agents to work in hostile territory.”
It seems they’re putting a lot on the line, and all we can say is that we’ll continue to support our soldiers.
Its terrible from the parents or loved ones who has a son, daughter or partner out there fightening for a good causeand you get some jumped MP who do’s not know what he is talking about and jumps out of his high chair spitting his dummy out and slatting these guys. Unfortunately being captured by the russian can be a terrible experiance and lucky it was’nt the Chechins who have some terrible torturing techniques and i wish them all the berst and good luck too.
The people who think labelling soldiers as terrorists on their return from supporting others against an obviously deranged, paranoid psychopath need to actually go and see what it is like rather than sitting in their parliamentary offices and second homes with expenses before passing comment. 😡😡
Well said there Jane and I is agreeing with what you are saying. 🙂
I have no interest in what Boris has to say anymore, he’s just after covering his own arse
putin will be caught soon. our british men should be allowed to choose weather to help ukraine as they would most certainly have helped us.