‘I am fully prepared to not come back’ – ex military men from Portsmouth and Southampton are readying themselves to join the frontlines in Ukraine

Three men who will be risking their lives to fight with Ukraine against the Russian invasion collected ‘essential’ combat equipment including body armour and boots out of hundreds of donated items to The News’ office before they leave the UK.

For security reasons The News will not be naming them.

Among them was a 30-year-old tree surgeon from Portsmouth, who served in the military 10 years ago.

‘I can’t just watch what is happening and do nothing,’ he said.

‘I want to take a stand for Ukraine. What Putin is doing is horrendous, he is breaking the laws of war. I don’t know why he needs to bombard civilians.

‘My dad isn’t happy and tried to stop me and my mum thinks I’m mental but will support me.

‘I’ve got no children and no mortgage so I have nothing to stop me from going – I don’t think I would go if I had children.

‘I have prepared myself for war but I still think getting there is going to be a massive shock.

‘I am fully prepared to not come back.’

He will be travelling to Warsaw in Poland in the next month with a 33-year-old from Southampton he met while in The News’ office.

His companion, a removals man, served in the military from 2007 to 2013, and saw combat in Afghanistan.

He said: ‘I just can’t sit idly by while this happens. It is disgusting what is happening and they need as much help as they can get.

‘Our government should be doing more to help – innocent people are dying every single day.

‘It’s overwhelming what has been donated here.’

SEE ALSO: SBS veterans donate £60,000 of body armour for Ukraine

Another Southampton resident has been given a sabbatical from his job as an IT developer to go to Ukraine.

The 41-year-old Iraq veteran will be saying goodbye to his girlfriend and six-year-old daughter to make the trip.

‘It echoes the Second World War to me,’ he said.

‘And if you think back to all the 14, 15 and 16-year-olds who signed up without thinking of their own safety. They gave their lives for this country and without them we wouldn’t be speaking English now.

‘If I can do half of what they did I’d die a happy man.’

His partner added: ‘I’m not happy about it, I’m really upset. But he is going to go so I have to support him.’

As reported, around £60,000 worth of body armour, 320 ration packs and hundreds of military clothes and bags have so far been sent into The News to be donated to the Ukraine effort.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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