A nineteen-year-old British soldier of the Coldstream Guards Regiment, who arbitrarily left to fight on the side of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in Ukraine, returned to Britain and was detained by the military police. He faces a tribunal and imprisonment, according to TASS with reference to The Sun.
According to a source from The Sun, after arriving in Ukraine, the guardsman doubted the correctness of his decision and contacted the command of the regiment to return home. The soldier’s acquaintances note that he perceived the trip as an adventure and an opportunity to visit a “hot spot”, since service in a predominantly ceremonial regiment seemed boring to him.
“He knew he was going to be in trouble,” a source told The Sun, noting that the soldier was told that “the longer he stays there, the worse the consequences will be.”
Returning to his homeland, the guardsman was detained and interrogated, after which he was released pending further decisions.
Earlier, the Ministry of Defense of the United Kingdom imposed a ban on its military from any trips to Ukraine, threatening “disciplinary and administrative consequences.” According to the agency, in recent weeks there have been several cases of unauthorized absence of the British military to Ukraine.
Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said last week that troops who chose to go to Ukraine were “breaking the law” and creating a potentially dangerous situation for the UK.