Despite having no military experience, a 19-year-old teenager signed up to join the fight for Ukraine in the Russian invasion. The teen left home and crossed the border into Ukraine within 36 hours.
The teen, Jamie, hails from Warrington, England, and is said to be an avid player of the game, Call of Duty. Speaking to ITV Granada, Jamie's mother, who wants to remain anonymous, said that on top of not having any military experience besides one year of Army Cadets in school, he has never traveled outside of the country, and can speak neither Ukrainian nor Polish.
The lead-up to the flight.
Jamie's mother revealed that he had been interested in the Ukraine invasion a few days after Russia invaded and was constantly asking her questions or watching videos on YouTube about the invasion and how people were already going over to fight. It was only after he left, that his family realized how serious the extent of his research was.
She described how Jamie would often go to work, come home, and watch many videos of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaking, and of England's Foreign Secretary Liz Truss who expressed support for those in the UK going over to join the international force.
"I think that has been one of the main reasons, the fact that it's been promoted, it's showing it's a good thing to go and help them, when it's not for a lad like him," she said.
"If you have military experience then it's fine, but not someone who hasn't got military experience, not someone who's not been vetted. They've not had the health checks, mentally and physically. They've not had the background checks, medical records, etc. He's had none of that done. So, for this, for him to be able to go over there is ridiculous."
She expressed that Truss should retract her statement because she does not understand the stress and worry she's causing everyone.
He signed up through a London-based organization via email.
Before flying off to Warsaw, Poland on his child's passport, Jamie contacted an organization to join the fight. The email read: "Hello, I am here to sign up to help Ukraine fight off Russia. I was told to email you to get more information."
The organization replied, thanking him for his support and asking him to fill out a form, adding on that volunteers should only book tickets if they have any military, combat, medical, rescue, fire fighting, or mechanical experience. He emailed them back to say that he had booked his flight to Poland.
Weighing in, his uncle said: "In the eyes of the law, he is an adult, but if you look at the email he sent, it says 'I want to come and fight Russia', it even has spelling mistakes — an email like that you'd hope they'd pick it up. The fact that in 36 hours he was able to sign up is unbelievable."
He also said that Jamie didn't take anything with him aside from his army cadet uniform. The family has been desperately trying to track his whereabouts, but even with geo-tracking, they could only determine that he was miles away from the border with Lviv before the connection was lost.
After 24 hours, Jamie finally contacted his family, confirming that he had already signed the contract. He reassured he would send a message every morning to let his mother know he's still alive.
While his family understands why Jamie wanted to help with the fight, his mother expressed that he thinks he's an adult, when he's not, and that he doesn't realize the severity of the situation.
"Jamie has that caring side of him, but there's also that side where he doesn't fully understand the repercussions of shooting a weapon, and what that can do to a child's mind," his uncle said.
UK troops told to stand down.
With the number of volunteers from the UK increasing, Transport Secretary Grant Shapps has warned troops that they cannot "just get up and go" to Ukraine to fight, and that Britons joining the fight may risk worsening the already dangerous situation.
He stressed that there is a big difference between the UK dispatching its troops to fight alongside Ukrainians, and individuals breaking the law and going to fight.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of Defense also said: "All service personnel are prohibited from traveling to Ukraine until further notice. This applies whether the service person is on leave or not. Personnel traveling to Ukraine will face disciplinary and administrative consequences."
As of now, the British people are advised against traveling to Ukraine.
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Cover image sourced from Fredrick Tendong / Unsplash and Reuters.
