SOME SOLDIERS MAY HAVE TRAVELLED TO UKRAINE TO FIGHT RUSSIA, SAYS BRITISH ARMY

Thu 10 March 2022:

As the war in Ukraine entered the third week on Thursday, the British Army said a “small number” of its soldiers have “disobeyed orders” and may have travelled to Ukraine “in a personal capacity”.

Downing Street has imposed a wide variety of sanctions on the Russian Federation and has also supplied missiles in order to aid Ukraine in the conflict. However, it has asked its citizens to refrain from travelling to the war-hit country to fight the Russians.

Earlier, the country’s Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said that she supports citizens who might want to go to Ukraine to help fight and that it was up to people to make their own decisions.

However, the Johnson administration later clarified that the Foreign Office strictly advises against all travel anybody who does so could be subjected to prosecution.

“We are strongly encouraging them to return to the UK,” the British Army said.

UK’s defence ministry has banned all service personnel from travelling to the UK. The ministry said those travelling to Ukraine would face disciplinary action.

UK defence secretary Ben Wallace while taking a harder line had said soldiers who had gone to Ukraine would face court martial. The minister also urged Britons not to travel to the war-hit country.

“The Ukrainians are very clear: you turn up, you are in it for the whole game. You are not in it for a selfie and six weeks, you are in it for real,” the minister said in Parliament.

Kyiv’s mayor said on Thursday that half of the population in the capital had left with the city turned into a fortress as reports claimed Russian forces have encircled at least four major cities and were heading towards the capital.

Kharkiv has come under intense bombing, reports say with the Russian offensive continuing in the separatist Donetsk and Lugansk regions. Reports say Sumy city has been encircled by Russian forces even as Kyiv has been heavily bombed.

Ukrainian forces have retained control over Chernihiv town, however, it has reported heavy civilian casualties in recent days.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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