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

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This is the moment a British gym owner with no military experience volunteers to fight against Vladimir Putin‘s Russian invaders in Ukraine, telling reporters: ‘We can’t just sit here and let it happen.’

Leon Dawson, 37, is seen in the video below telling journalists he is prepared to lose his life fighting to defend Ukraine as a volunteer in the country’s newly announced foreign legion.

Standing outside the Ukrainian embassy in west London with other would-be-fighters, including his friend Tom Konarzewski, who is originally from Poland and runs a dog care business, he tells 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, he said: ‘My family are upset. Obviously it is a hard time.’  

Mr Dawson and Mr Konarzewski were among a number of people seen outside the Ukrainian embassy yesterday responding to calls by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky for foreign fighters to join their defence against Russia. 

Brian Grove, a 60-year-old former Territorial Army (TA) member from Kent, told 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 told Sky News reporters.

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

It come as dozens of former Army and Special Forces soldiers from Britain and amateurs who have never seen action before volunteered to fight Putin’s invading troops.

Reportedly among them are a crack team of retired SAS soldiers who are on their way to join the war on the side of the Ukrainians. 

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

The Foreign Secretary Liz Truss 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, saying that the ‘very dangerous’ situation could lead to them being killed.

Meanwhile 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. 

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.’

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’.

Meanwhile, 60-year-old former Territorial Army soldier Brian Grove said outside the Ukrainian embassy in London that ‘somebody has to’ put their life on the line.

He added: ‘I decided to come and do something. I can get on a flight tomorrow.’ 

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. 

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 her 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.’