British ‘Lads’ Army’ volunteers head to the Ukrainian embassy to sign up to fight Putin

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British ‘Lads Army’ volunteers eager to take on Vladimir Putin’s Russian forces could be prosecuted under UK terror laws if they go out to fight in Ukraine, Boris Johnson today hinted.

Groups of men have gathered outside the Ukrainian embassy in west London to answer Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky call to arms for foreign fighters to join his country’s defence against Russia.

Yesterday Foreign Secretary Liz Truss appeared to encourage Britons saying she would ‘absolutely support’ those who wished to sign up to fight as part of the Ukrainian armed forces.

But lawyers have warned that Britons who fight in Ukraine could be prosecuted under UK terror laws – much like those who took arms for Kurdish militia forces against ISIS in Syria.

Now the Prime Minister has waded into the debate, warning members of the so-called ‘Lads Army’ could be breaking British law by going over to Ukraine to fight.

Giving a speech in Estonia today, Mr Johnson said: ‘I can understand why people feel as they do but we have laws in our country about international conflicts and how they should be conducted.’ 

Asked if, in the wake of Ms Truss’s comments, that the Government was encouraging Britons to fight, he replied: ‘The UK is not actively doing any such thing.’

It comes as a London banker became the latest to arrive at the Ukrainian embassy in London to volunteer to fight against Russia. 

Sam Ottaway, 38, works at a bank in the City and has no combat experience, but came down to volunteer in his lunch break.

Mr Ottaway, who describes British writer George Orwell as one of his heroes and an inspiration for his decision to join the fight, said: ‘It’s the right thing to do, can’t see that happen. History has taught us that this stuff doesn’t just stop does it?’ 

It comes after gym owner Leon Dawson, 37, yesterday told reporters he was prepared to lose his life fighting to defend Ukraine as a volunteer in the country’s newly formed Foreign Legion.

Standing outside the Ukrainian embassy with other would-be-fighters, including his friend Tom Konarzewski, who is originally from Poland and who runs a dog care business, he told reporters from Sky News:  ‘We’re young, strong, fit men and we can help, so why not?’

‘We don’t want to die. We’re obviously scared. But if we’re scared, we can imagine how the innocent women and children feel. I can’t sit here and just let that happen.’

Asked if his family were aware, Mr Dawson, who has no military experience, said: ‘My family are upset. Obviously it is a hard time.’  

Among those attending the Ukrainian embassy yesterday was Brian Grove, a 60-year-old former Territorial Army (TA) member from Kent. He told Sky News reporters he had ‘decided to do something’ to help under siege Ukrainians. 

 ‘I used to be in the TA, I’ve also got a lot of first aid training so I’ve decided to come and do something,’ he said.

Asked if he’s prepared to fight, Mr Grove replies: ‘Yes, I can get on a flight tomorrow.’ 

Others to arrive at the embassy to volunteer include Akos Horvadh. The 28-year-old says he is nervous about telling his parents but is adamant about going to fight.

Akos said: ‘I’m Hungarian. Ukraine is my neighbour. I can’t stand to see what goes on there.

‘As I see it, what they really need is people to go there and fight. I have a little experience. I know how to use a gun.

‘If I go there there is a chance I could die. But that’s the truth of war. I could die, lose my limbs, I’m aware. But someone needs to go.’

Though many who have arrived at the embassy have no previous combat experience, one man to volunteer, Jason Luck, does. 

Jason Luck, who has family in Mykolaiv, a city near the Black Sea in southern Ukraine, served for 12 years in the British Army. He is due to fly out on Wednesday. 

He said: ‘My family are in Ukraine. They’re in the east of the country. I’ve got my partner, her boy, my daughter. 

‘Fighting isn’t my priority. My family is my priority. I live in Surrey but go back and forwards. First it was the pandemic, now this idiot [Putin].’

Jason, who is in his late 40s, refused the offer from Ukrainian authorities to pay for his flights. 

‘I’m going out Wednesday. I need to. I’m really worried.  I’ve got a twisted feeling in my stomach,’ he said. 

‘I want to go out there to protect my city. I don’t want to end up in Kyiv. I want to be near my family. That’s why I’m here.

‘I don’t want to join Ukrainian regular forces. This is why I’m here to explain to them. I’m happy to fight but I want to be there for my family.’

Matthew Green, 47, from London, who retired as a Staff Sergeant six months ago, said: ‘I want to fight for diplomacy.

‘I think the British military are stuck and I’m sure we would send our men if we could. It’s the perfect timing for me as I was discharged six months ago.

‘I have no connection with Ukraine or Russia, but I want to do my part.

Alex Pickett, 32, from Andover, Hants, who works in private security, said: ‘I will do whatever I can in whatever way I can.

‘I’m just slowly getting my affairs in order so that I can go when they tell me. I’m non-military, but I’m an Englishman.

‘I’m a free man who is fighting for a free world and is willing to do his part.

‘All it takes for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing.

‘I’m just a normal Englishman, I’ve got a basic firearm skill and I’m reasonably fit.

‘My heart is in the right place and that is the only reason why I’m doing this.’ 

If the ‘Lads Army’ are given the green light to fight in Ukraine, they will be joined by more than 150 British ex-paratroopers who fought in Afghanistan are now on their way to Ukraine to battle Putin’s forces.

Dozens of former Special Forces soldiers from Britain are also said to be heading out there to fight for Ukraine, including a crack team of retired SAS fighters who are on their way to join the war on the side of the Ukrainians. 

Ukrainian expats living in Britain are also heading back to their home country to fight against Putin’s invaders.

Meanwhile, military supply stores in the UK are said to be kitting out volunteers –  with some even offering 50 per cent discounts for those heading out to Ukraine. 

Yesterday, as the fighting raged on in cities such as Kyiv and Kharkiv, Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and a No 10 spokesman both appeared to contradict Liz Truss, who gave her backing to Britons who wanted to join the resistance movement.

In a surprising comment, the Foreign Secretary said she ‘won’t oppose’ British nationals who travel to Ukraine to fight the Russian invasion.

But Mr Wallace urged Britons not to join the fighting, particularly those without military experience, saying that the ‘very dangerous’ situation could lead to them being killed.

The comments came as a former defence minister today said the Government should issue clear advice that Britons should not go to Ukraine to fight. 

The British Army meanwhile are warning UK soldiers ‘on or off leave’ not to take up arms against Russia over fears that the sight of British insignias could spark a major escalation in the conflict.  

Hundreds of troops have expressed interest in answering a request from Kyiv for international volunteers, it is believed, but commanders have told them not to sign up.

They cannot stop retired personnel from travelling to eastern Europe, but full-time and reserve troops have received a stern warning not to take part in the conflict.

One brigadier said he heard talk that some soldiers were considering going Awol to join the fight, The Times reports.

But a post on the Army’s internal messaging service read: ‘There has been some recent media coverage relating to foreigners being welcomed into Ukraine to help fight against Russia.

‘To be clear, as members of the British Army, you are not authorised to travel to Ukraine to support the ongoing conflict against Russia in any form, whether you are on leave or not.

‘Please remain professional and focused on your duty and your team.’

Despite the warning, a military source has said that 150 of former paratroopers were on their way to Poland.

Shane, 34, a former sniper with the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment, said Ms Truss’ comments on Sunday were ‘the green light’

Ukraine’s president Volodomyr Zelensky said he was forming his country’s own foreign legion to fight Russia.

Several thousand people have volunteered to join the force, deputy defence minister Hanna Malyar said yesterday.

Among them are reportedly a group of SAS veterans eager to defend Ukraine.  

According to The Mirror, the retired UK special forces soldiers have volunteered for missions deep inside Ukraine to back up the country’s defence. 

The veterans, aged between 40 and 60, have had meetings to discuss signing up for the dangerous mission, backing up Ukrainians in combat.

Key to their operation is among them there are highly-trained snipers and experts in the use of anti-aircraft and anti-tank missiles. 

It comes as lawyers warned that Britons leaving to fight in Ukraine could face legal action on their return under UK terror laws. 

However they said prosecutions would likely be a ‘non-starter’ – pointing to those who avoided legal action for fighting against for Kurdish militias against ISIS. 

Under the UK’s Terrorism Act 2000, terrorism is described as the use or threat of violence, to influence a government or the public, ‘for the purpose of advancing a political, religious, racial or ideological cause’. 

Jonathan Hall QC, the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation, said fighting in Ukraine would be captured by the definition.

He told The Independent: ‘Russia’s aggression against the international legal order, and the importance of supporting Ukraine, makes any support for foreign fighters who want to travel to Ukraine at first glance attractive. 

‘Given the government’s apparent support, prosecution of foreign fighters against Russia under terrorism legislation appears to be a non-starter even if the broad statutory definition of terrorism is satisfied in these cases. 

‘But there is always the possibility of less desirable cases at the edges – individuals who travel to Ukraine under false pretence either to support Russia or fight with an ideological group such as the [neo-Nazi] Azov battalion.’

British authorities have previously tried to prosecute British fighters who took up arms against ISIS in Syria.

Ex-paratrooper Daniel Burke originally fought against ISIS with the Kurdish People’s Protection Units (YPG) between late 2017 and June 2018.

No action was taken at the time. But he was later prosecuted for ‘preparing acts of terrorism’ after allegedly attempting to return to support the YPG against an invasion by Turkish-led forces in 2019.

However the charges were later dropped against Burke and two other men following a review by the Crown Prosecution Service. 

Yesterday Defence Secretary Ben Wallace and a No 10 spokesman both appeared to contradict Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who yesterday gave her backing to Britons who wanted to join the resistance movement. 

Mr Wallace said he didn’t ‘want to see British people killed any more than I want to see Ukrainians’ and asked people who were not properly trained or an ‘experienced member of an armed forced’ not to join the war in Ukraine.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine was ‘very dangerous’, Mr Wallace told Sky News, and there were ‘better ways’ to support the country.  

Asked if the Prime Minister supported Ms Truss’s remarks, a No 10 spokesman said yesterday the travel advice was not to go to Ukraine. 

He added: ‘We think the best way of helping now is ensuring Putin fails.’ 

As the debate continued, today former defence minister Kevan Jones told MailOnline that the Government needs to issue clear advice that Britons should not go to Ukraine to fight. 

The Labour MP flagged the risk that people could either get captured by Russian forces, or hamper the Ukrainian resistance because they are not properly trained.

‘Following the Foreign Secretary’s comments the government needs urgently to clarify the position,’ he said. 

‘Not only in terms of the legal position but also whether it could endanger the individuals and hamper the resistance rather than help it – no matter how well intentioned.’

Meanwhile, one British military store is reportedly giving discounts to Britons wishing to join Ukraine in its fight against Russia.

Damon Warren, a 52-year-old ex-soldier who owns Folkestone’s G4 Echelon Military Supplies in Kent, is said to be giving 50 per cent discount to both Ukrainians and any British veterans seeking to help them. 

However Mr Warren said he had been turning away Britons who were not veterans because those with neither military experience nor the ability to speak Ukrainian would be ‘more of a liability than a help’.

One person visiting his store yesterday was Andrew Lester, a 25-year-old electrician from Kent who served in the Parachute Regiment till last July.

He told the Telegraph: ‘The Ukrainians are really doing quite well, I think.

‘They’re holding out. If they need a few more blokes to push them back, then that’s what we’re here for.’ 

Yesterday, as the fighting raged on, nine Ukrainians left England heading off to war in three equipment-laden SUVs. 

They left from Kensington’s Ukrainian Social Club, where Britons had been appearing throughout the day to volunteer to fight against Putin.

The cars were laden with body armour, rucksacks and piles of Boots bags packed with bandages, nappies, medicine and toothbrushes.

One – called Vladimir – 44, said: ‘I am going to fight for Ukraine, to protect Ukraine, to defend Ukraine.’

Another in their party, a Russian called Denis, 33, who worked with the fighters, was helping to ferry equipment to Ukraine.

He said: ‘They have families here, they know what they have to do. They are just going to their home. If they support it they will fight.

‘They just want to go to their home and help their families. They just want to go to their home.’

He said he would stop at the border and not fight, but would help them take equipment across.

Cars carried provisions alongside helmets, sleeping mats, armoured vests and binoculars.

Angela, 47, said: ‘I don’t know if I will fight but I will try to help the innocents.

‘It’s very important. When you see people who die you think we can help here with the money from England, but we don’t have the people.’

In a touching scene, they were helped by 28 year old engineer Harry Wright from Dagenham, east London, before he volunteered himself.

Father-of-two Harry, who has three-and-four-year old girls, said: ‘I want to stop it from spreading. Stop letting Putin get that power.’

Jimmy Butt, a forklift driver from Wolverhampton, has relatives who are ‘cut off’ in Ukraine.

He said: ‘My friends are not really taking me seriously with it. Think I’m blowing off steam.

‘I want to try and do something worthwhile, something beyond myself while I’m still able to do it.

‘This is bigger than anything. I’m willing to sacrifice for something I see as greater.’

As their passports were checked and the Ukrainians tried to force more equipment into the boots of their cars, onlookers said it felt like a First World War spirit as they watched them go off to war.

They are getting a ferry and then driving across Europe to the Polish border.

It comes as MailOnline reported on Britons already in Ukraine joining the fight against Russia. 

Shaun Pinner, 48, an ex-soldier with a Ukrainian wife who is already on the front lines, and Antony Zamparelli, a father-of-seven who served in the Army but has never been in a conflict, are among those from the UK to have said they will fight.

Others include Aiden Aslin, 28, an ex-carer who previously fought ISIS in Syria, as well as a team of 60 British former Army and Special Forces soldiers that have been gathered by Mamuka Mamulashvili, 43, commander of the Georgian National Legion. 

Friends and families of the Brits going to war told MailOnline of their worries for them being on the frontlines in Ukraine.

Mr Pinner’s sister Cassandra, who is a nurse in Bedfordshire, said: ‘He’s fighting as we speak, although I probably shouldn’t disclose where’.

‘He’s going in now, [I] sent a final message just in case.’

She said the rest of her brother’s team would be joining him on Thursday.  

This week they are frantically searching for chest seals to treat battle wounds before they head to Ukraine, she added. 

A friend of Mr Aslin, Kattia Beckinsale-Yates, told MailOnline: ‘I messaged the other day but haven’t heard anything back.’ 

She added she was ‘hoping and praying he’s safe’.

A YouGov poll of UK adults on Monday found 18 per cent believes the Government should encourage people who want to fight the Russians to go to Ukraine.

Father-of-seven Antony Zamparelli told GB News he was willing to die for the Ukrainian cause and urged other Brits to ‘go to Ukraine if you’re willing to fight for freedom’. 

MailOnline revealed on Saturday that foreigners are crossing into Ukraine to take up arms after a call from president Volodymyr Zelensky.  

Mr Aslin is a former carer who left his job in April 2015 and travelled to Syria to fight Isis in Syria.

He spent ten months there before coming home to the UK, where he was arrested.  

He was held for 30 hours after officers boarded his plane at Heathrow, where members of his family were eagerly awaiting his arrival. 

He was immediately taken to Nottinghamshire Police headquarters for questioning over a suspected terrorism offence. 

He remained on bail for months until all charges were dropped in October 2016. 

Now, in Ukraine, he is not the only Britain ready to fight off a Russian invasion.

The former carer has been joined by ex-soldier Mr Pinner, from Bedfordshire.

He is married to a Ukrainian woman and has been in Donbas for the past four years.

Mr Pinner previously served in the Royal Anglian Regiment and said he fought with the Ukrainian army as a ‘contract soldier’.

Speaking from a trench ten miles outside Mariupol, he said: ‘I am here defending my family and adopted city. Russia started this war – it’s funded by Russia and driven by Russia. But we will fight them, make no mistake about that.’

Mr Pinner said fighting in the trenches was ‘like Hell’, with snipers ‘less than 600m away’.

Mr Pinner said there has been tension in Ukraine’ for years’.

‘It’s only new to Europe, who have finally woken up to what’s happening here,’ he told Al Jazeera.

Mr Pinner is one of the oldest in his unit, which has three Brits and one Croatian as well as Ukrainians.

The team is known as the Marines First Battalion. ‘I’ve always got something to prove,’ Mr Pinner added. 

Another man who turned up at the Ukrainian embassy to try to enlist with the country’s military told Sky News: ‘They look like they need help. We are young, strong fit men, we can help so why not?’ 

A third he said he was going to ‘try to make a difference’. Asked if he was prepared to lose his life, he said ‘I think so’.

In an exclusive interview with MailOnline commander Mamulashvili said: ‘I have a very big group of Britons, around sixty travelling to Ukraine to join up with my Georgian National League unit.

‘They are travelling by car from the UK and will cross over at the Polish border. I am expecting them here with equipment and supplies in the next few days. 

‘They are mostly guys who have fought with me in Ukraine before but there are also new recruits as well. 

‘We will provide them with training and weapons and they are coming from London and all over Britain.

‘Their background is former British Army and Special Forces and they are good fighters, they can be trusted to take on the Russian aggressors and most importantly win.

‘What I want to stress is that none of them are getting paid, they are not mercenaries, they are all volunteers.’

Commander Mamulashvili is a veteran of the 2008 war against Russia in Georgia and a mixed martial arts expert and founded the unit in 2014 to provide foreign fighters in Ukraine’s war against Russian-backed separatists in the Donbas region.

He added: ‘The guys from the UK are just bringing basic equipment with their uniforms and rations, they will get weapons when they arrive. 

‘Putin is very much mistaken if he thinks he will take Ukraine, he will face a fight to the death as the Ukrainian army has shown how brave and strong it is.

‘They have experience and now they have good equipment from the rest of Europe and the world and now we have the backing of some of the best foreign volunteer soldiers in the world.

‘We know some of us might die but unless we fight against Russia, Putin will just keep going and trying to take countries. 

‘When he went into Georgia in 2008 the then President of my country said Ukraine would be next and he was right.’

Father-of-two Mamulashvili added that he ‘expected’ the number of volunteers from Britain and elsewhere to top 500 within the next few days after having received dozens of requests asking for details on how to join up.

He added: ‘My advice for anyone from the UK who wants to come and fight is to get in touch with the Ukrainian embassy in London and they will advise how to get to our base.

‘If that is not possible volunteers should make their way to Poland and cross the border into Ukraine and head for the city of Lviv where we have a mobilisation base and make themselves known to the local authorities but for obvious reasons I cannot give you the exact address.’

Earlier this year it emerged that at least two Brits were fighting in Ukraine, Aiden Aslin, 28, from Newark, Nottinghamshire and Sean Pinner, 48, from Bedfordshire.

Harry Jackson, 27, who founded UK Aid for Ukraine, and launched an appeal on Facebook for volunteers and equipment said he had been ‘flooded with offers of help’.

Harry said: ‘I’m putting people in touch with Mamuka Mamulashvili, commander of the Georgian National Legion. 

‘I have helmets, flak jackets and medical supplies all going out as well as a group of volunteers.’

On Sunday President Zelensky urged foreigners to head to Ukrainian embassies in their home countries to sign up for an ‘international brigade’ to help fight invading Russian forces.

He said: ‘All foreigners wishing to join the resistance against the Russian occupiers and protect global security are invited by the Ukrainian leadership to come to our state and join the ranks of the territorial defence forces,’ Zelensky said in a statement on the presidential website.

‘A separate unit is being formed from foreigners — the International Brigade of the territorial defence of Ukraine. This will be a key testimony of your support for our country.’

Since 2016 it has been legal for foreigners to join the Ukrainian army.  

Do you know someone going to fight? Email james.robinson@mailonline.co.uk