The Foreign Office advises that Brits do not travel to fight in Ukraine
A British man who travelled to Ukraine to help fight the Russian invasion of the country has been told to return home.
Leon Dawson is one of many Brits to have decided to volunteer and fight in Ukraine and had planned to help the country defend itself. This is despite the fact that the gym owner from Surrey has no connection to Ukraine and absolutely zero military experience.
Unsurprisingly then, he has now revealed that when he arrived in Ukraine to offer his services he was turned away by a Ukrainian official who told him: “We don’t have the resources to train you, we don’t have the time to train you either.”
Speaking to Sky News he said: “I’m not a stupid person. I understand war is way more than just people shooting.”
He admitted that he wouldn’t be “much help shooting” as he hasn’t used a gun before. He also doesn’t know the language or any military tactics, and said he’d “be better put to work doing something else.”
Dawson has no plans on returning home though. He is still travelling to the Polish border to help deliver aid and will always be ready and waiting to take up arms if needed.
However he is keen not to “get myself trapped,” because that would be “obviously very, very bad.”
Dawson has been documenting his journey from South London to Ukraine on TikTok.
The advice on whether Brits should volunteer to go and fight in Ukraine has been mixed from the British government.
The Foreign Office has warned against travelling to Ukraine, with its website reading: “If you travel to Ukraine to fight, or to assist others engaged in the conflict, your activities may amount to offences against UK terrorism or other legislation and you could be prosecuted on your return to the UK.”
Although this seems to go against the words of Foreign Secretary Liz Truss, who recently said she would “absolutely” support anyone who wanted to go and fight in Ukraine.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace on the other hand said people without military training should not travel to Ukraine, whilst Scottish PM Nicola Sturgeon has warned it could be counter productive for anyone other than trained military personnel to fight in Ukraine.
Related links:
- Scottish grandad fighting Russians in Ukraine
- ‘Absolute legends’ travelled from UK to help Ukrainian refugees reach border safety
- Andy Murray pledges to donate prize money to help children in Ukraine
