Serving Queen’s Guard, 19, goes AWOL so he can fight Vladimir Putin’s forces in Ukraine
A TEENAGE Coldstream Guardsman has abandoned his post protecting the Queen to fight Mad Vlad’s invaders in Ukraine.
The soldier, 19, quit his Windsor barracks, left a note for his parents and booked a one-way ticket to Eastern Europe.
Defence chiefs are trying to intercept him amid fears Russia could claim Britain has entered the war if he is caught.
The missing teenager is among four British soldiers feared to have gone AWOL to fight in Ukraine.
Top Brass fear far more may have gone to fight, including reserves and troops on leave who are not yet reported missing.
Until now, it was only former military personnel who had headed for the front line.
The rogue squaddies pose a huge security threat as they could be used by Vladimir Putin to claim Britain has entered the war if they are found by Russian troops.
Defence chiefs, the police and the Foreign Office were yesterday scrambling to reach the soldiers before they managed to join Ukraine’s Foreign Legion in Lviv, western Ukraine.
A source close to the teenager told The Sun he left his base in Windsor, Berks, where he and colleagues guard the Queen at the nearby castle.
The soldier wrote to his parents before booking a one-way ticket to Poland over the weekend with an intention to then cross the border into Ukraine.
He has since reportedly posted a picture of his boots on Snapchat.
Friends believe the photo shows he had managed to join President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s defence forces.
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His family were too distraught to speak when approached by a reporter for comment yesterday.
A Ministry of Defence spokesman told The Sun that all service personnel are banned from travelling to Ukraine until further notice.
He said: “This applies whether the Service Person is on leave or not. Personnel travelling to Ukraine will face disciplinary and administrative consequences.”
A friend of the AWOL soldier said he had become “bored” of the ceremonial role of his regiment - which included parading in the Guards’ famous bear skin hats — as war raged in Ukraine.
The friend said: “He’d had enough. He got promised a tour to Afghanistan, same as a lot of other lads after all the ceremonial stuff. But that didn’t happen.
“A lot of the lads are fed up. They were promised an operational tour and it got pushed under their noses for about three or four years. Then when the tour was supposed to come about, it got cancelled.
“He’s gone absent without leave, bought a ticket and he’s on his way to Ukraine to fight in the war.
“You don’t join the Army to stand in bear skin hats and march about. You join it to fight and see action.
“He probably thinks he could do some good out there but it’s a very misguided decision.
'VERY MISGUIDED DECISION'
“Now he has put himself in huge danger and will undoubtedly spend time in a military prison such as Colchester if he ever comes home.”
Ex-Army chief General Lord Dannatt blasted the AWOL soldier as “totally irresponsible”.
He said: “We don’t get to choose the wars we go to. If you join the Army you go to the wars that you get sent to.
“Much as one might applaud their motivation for wanting to help, it is completely the wrong thing to do. If they were captured it would be playing into the Russian hands to say British forces have infiltrated into Ukraine, which is completely not true.
“It would be totally irresponsible for soldiers to take matters into their own hands. It is bad news, it is bad discipline and shouldn’t be happening. In peace time our duty is to train to be ready for the wars our government chooses to send us to.”
More than 150 British ex-paratroopers who fought in Afghanistan are also reported to have made the dangerous journey to Ukraine so far.
The Sun spoke to two former military heroes last week who crossed into Ukraine and told of their desire to help. The pair, who served in Afghanistan and Iraq, said they “couldn’t just sit back and do nothing”.
Do you know any soldiers who are travelling to Ukraine? Email exclusive@the-sun.co.uk or call 020 7782 4100
Foreign Secretary Liz Truss has said she would support anyone who wanted to fight in Ukraine.
She added: “That is something people can make their own decisions about. The people of Ukraine are fighting for freedom and democracy, not just for Ukraine but for the whole of Europe.
“Absolutely, if people want to support that struggle I would support them in doing that.”
The Government were quick to distance themselves from Ms Truss’s comments with Boris Johnson’s spokesman reiterating they firmly advise against travel to Ukraine.
Defence Secretary Ben Wallace insisted Brits should not travel to fight as he did not “want to see British people killed any more than I want to see Ukrainians” dying.
Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin has said any soldier heading to battlefields in Ukraine would give Russia the mistaken perception that Britain had engaged them in fighting. And he said the sound of gunfire was not “something you want to rush to.”
The Coldstream Guards are the oldest continuously-serving regiment in the Army and specialise in light role operations as well as providing protection to royal palaces.
The regiment fought the Russians in the Crimean War on the Crimea peninsula in Ukraine from 1853-56.
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They fought at Inkerman, Alma and Sevastopol with distinction, and four of the regiment received the newly-commissioned Victoria Cross.
After horrific losses on both sides the Russians finally caved in to the allied forces of Britain, France and the Ottoman Empire and the Treaty of Paris was signed in March 1856.
Orders are crystal clear
By Jerome Starkey
SERVING soldiers who abandon duties to fight with Ukraine risk nuclear Armageddon.
Nobody doubts their courage to stand against Russia.
It’s only natural that British soldiers, the best trained in the world, want to put that to use where needed most.
But if one is killed or captured the Kremlin will cook up claims British soldiers are directly at war with Russia.
It would give Putin an excuse to attack British or Nato troops. That could trigger an Article 5 conflict, where all 30 Nato members declare war — including nuclear-armed Britain, France and America.
Serving soldiers have sworn to serve the Queen and obey the orders of her officers.
Those orders are crystal clear: Do not go to Ukraine.
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