He said he’d go back to Afghanistan and there’s nothing anyone can do about it
A former student who went on holiday to Afghanistan when the Taliban took over has now admitted he wants to visit Ukraine.
22-year-old Miles Routledge from Birmingham had to be evacuated from Kabul after he went there on holiday when Afghanistan fell to the Taliban in August 2021.
Now, he wants to visit Ukraine – despite the fact a war in the country could break out with Russia. The Kremlin continues to deny plans for military action but around 100,000 Russian troops are currently gathered at the border.
Meanwhile, Routledge is determined to visit Kharkiv, Donetsk and Crimea in Ukraine, even though the Foreign Office clearly advises against travelling there at this time.
The former Loughborough University physics student told the Mail Online: “I’ve been to Ukraine before so I’m hoping to see something new.
“I want to see the war. I want to see the feelings of both sides, their opinions and hopefully I’ll see the critical point of the conflict, if it is to come.”
While he admitted it is “self-destructive behaviour”, Routledge dismissed anyone who disapproves of his dangerous travelling and said he’d return to Afghanistan.
Lousy attempt at getting the Kazakhstan flag in the background on the mountain crossing but here’s some added proof 🇰🇿 pic.twitter.com/MSH7ZRI4rf
— Lord Miles (@real_lord_miles) January 22, 2022
Responding to critics, he said: “I’d say I wish them all the best but truthfully they were never my audience and for every seething comment made against me, behind it was my friends and I eating popcorn and laughing at them.
“I’ll continue to travel regardless of their opinions, I’ll even go back to Afghanistan and there’s nothing they can do about it.”
Routledge said he has previously avoided covid isolation rules by claiming he is an “essential journalist with regular international work.”
The 22-year-old hopes to fly from Luton to Gdańsk in Poland before landing in Lviv in western Ukraine on Thursday.
He has even set up a fundraiser to encourage people to help cover his travel costs, on which he wrote: “Daily uploads, travel around the entire country and sleeping in interesting living conditions. What could go wrong?”
[caption id="attachment_313524" align="alignnone" width="594"]
Ukrainian soldiers with the 56th Brigade, on the front line in Pisky on January 18, 2022
The Foreign Office pulled some staff out of Ukraine earlier this week and Nato is putting forces on standby. However Russia considers the alliance as a threat and is demanding legal guarantees that it will not expand into Ukraine, BBC reports.
Last night, US President Joe Biden held a video conference with EU leaders, the Nato secretary general and Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
The leaders agreed that if a further Russian incursion took place, “allies must enact swift retributive responses including an unprecedented package of sanctions,” according to Downing Street.
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