Report: Inspired by 'Call of Duty' & Liz Truss, UK Teen Heads to Fight in Ukraine

The UK Ministry of Defence has warned British service members against travelling to Ukraine, saying that those who ignore the ban will face disciplinary and administrative consequences.

A British teenager keen on videogames has left the country after signing up to fight for Ukraine, ITV News reported, citing the boy's concerned mother.

Jamie from Warrington is 19 years old. It only took him 36 hours to find himself in Poland as a volunteer to fight Russian troops in Ukraine, even though he has no military background and he cannot speak either Ukrainian or Polish.

According to his mother, who remained unnamed, her son simply emailed a site to volunteer before booking a one-way ticket, using a child's passport to travel. She also said that Jamie, who is obsessed with the videogame Call of Duty, allegedly signed a two-year contract with the Ukrainian military despite his lack of the necessary experience.

Jamie's family appears to have no idea where exactly the teenager is now. According to his parents, the boy done a lot of research: from reading news reports to watching YouTube videos - including addresses made by politicians.

"He's a typical lad, he goes into his room, he's been there watching all of these, then going to work, then coming home, watching them again, watching Zelenskyy when he's been on telly, watching the Prime Minister, watching Liz Truss when she's said she would back them going over there", Jamie's mother told ITV. "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".

It appears that Jamie was able to leave for Poland without any vetting or health check-ups. According to the report, all it took for the teenager to get the ball rolling was a single e-mail that said: "Hello, I am here to sign up to help ukrain fight off Russia I was told to email you to get more information about it [sic]".

The geo-tracking that the family used to locate Jamie said he was last detected somewhere on the border with the western Ukrainian city of Lvov. Once he crossed into Ukraine, his location became unavailable.

Jamie showed up online 24 hours later, confirming to his family that he ha "signed the contract" and "received the gear". When asked how long he would stay in Ukraine, he responded "until marshal law is over [sic]".

"He thinks he is an adult but he's not, he definitely isn't an adult. The way he thinks is immature, it's immature thinking the way he thinks, he doesn't realise the severity of something like this", his uncle told ITV, taken aback by the fact that the volunteer organisation did not even pick up on the spelling mistakes Jamie made in his sign-up e-mail. "The fact that in 36 hours he was able to sign up is unbelievable".

The armed conflict in Ukraine has been ongoing since 24 February, when Russia launched a military operation there with the aim to "demilitarise and de-Nazify" the country and to protect the people of the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics from the "genocide" that Kiev, according to the Kremlin, was waging against them. The military operation has been decried by Western countries, with the EU and the US, along with other nations, imposing harsh sanctions on Russia.

UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said that she would support anyone who wanted to fight in Ukraine, arguing that "the people of Ukraine are fighting for freedom and democracy, not just for Ukraine but for the whole of Europe". Her statement, however, is in stark contrast with the UK government position - something that Downing Street was quick to clarify, with Boris Johnson reiterating firm advice against travelling to Ukraine. A similar sentiment was voiced by Defence Secretary Ben Wallace, who urged UK citizens not to participate in the conflict as he did not “want to see British people killed any more than I want to see Ukrainians” dying.

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