Sixty Brits to fight Russia in Ukraine as Ben Wallace urges people NOT to join the conflict
Sixty British volunteers are heading to fight Putin’s invaders: Band of ex-Army and Special Forces soldiers ‘will arrive in Ukraine within days’ – as Ben Wallace urges people in UK NOT to join fighting
Sixty British volunteers will fight Putin’s invaders in Ukraine within daysThe move answers Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s call to armsThey are led by Mamuka Mamulashvili, Georgian National Legion commanderForeign Secretary Liz Truss said the UK will back Britons going to fight in UkraineYet Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has urged Brits not to join the fighting
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Sixty British volunteers are heading to Ukraine to fight against Vladimir Putin‘s Russian forces.
The former Army and Special Forces soldiers have been gathered by Mamuka Mamulashvili, 43, commander of the Georgian National Legion.
It comes after MailOnline exclusively revealed on Saturday that foreigners crossing into Ukraine to take up arms after a call from president Volodymyr Zelensky.
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said on Sunday the UK would back Britons if they travelled to join the resistance movement who are bravely repelling the Russian forces.
However, Defence Secretary Ben 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’, he told Sky News, and there were ‘better ways’ to support the country.
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.
Sixty British volunteers are heading to Ukraine to fight against Vladimir Putin’s Russian forces, led by Mamuka Mamulashvili, Georgian National Legion (pictured training in Kyiv in January) commander
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss (pictured) said the UK will back Britons going to fight in Ukraine
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace (pictured) 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
A Russian tank burning in the Ukrainian city of Sumy just days after newly revealed dashcam footage showed a huge column of tanks moving in
‘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.
Volodymyr Zelensky has warned that Ukraine faces a ‘crucial’ 24 hours as Russia throws even more ground forces at Kyiv
Plumes of smoke rise from a building, which was caused by a cruise missile according to local media, in Kyiv, Ukraine
Smoke billows over the town of Vasylkiv, which is just outside Kyiv on February 27
Public Chernihiv reports that a rocket hit a residential building in the centre of Chernihiv, north of Kyiv. A fire broke out with two lower floors ablaze. The number of injured is currently unknown
‘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.
Members of Georgian Legion train civilians to adapt them with the self-defence capabilities in January
The paramilitary unit formed mainly by ethnic Georgian volunteers to fight against Russian aggression in Ukraine in 2014, now includes people of various nationalities
Commander Mamuka Mamulashvili told MailOnline: ‘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’
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.
