Don’t fight in Ukraine – military boss tells Britons

Britons should not travel to Ukraine to fight and instead help out from Britain wherever they can, the armed forces chief has said.

Speaking to the BBC, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin dismissed Ukraine’s call for a no-fly zone, saying it would not help tactically and would escalate fighting.

He urged the West to trust that they are doing the “right thing”.

The invasion is not going well, Russia is weakening and cannot continue, he said.

To the British looking to join the fight, Adm Radakin said it was nothing to rush in terms of the sound of gunfire.

Asked if Foreign Secretary Liz Truss was right when she said she would support any Briton who wanted to fight, he said: “We can all understand that sentiment and that sentiment needs to be channeled into supporting Ukraine.”

Senior British military officers are seriously concerned that some British troops – regulars or reservists – may try to join the fight in Ukraine, risking a propaganda victory for Russia.

Last week, the Chief of Defense People, Lt. General James Swift, a message to the chain of command stressing that British military personnel were “not authorized” to travel there. He said if there was any suspicion that troops were trying to invade Ukraine, it should be reported immediately to the duty police.

The embassy warned that by fighting in Ukraine, British military personnel not only risk their lives but also risk giving Russia “the wrong perception” that Britain has sent troops to engage in hostilities.

Admiral Sir Tony Radakin has now underscored that message, saying it was “unlawful and unhelpful”. At this time, the Ministry of Defense does not believe there are any instances of British military personnel being absent full-time to fight in Ukraine. It is more difficult for them to keep an eye on reservists, who often have another job

In his interview with the BBC show on Sunday morning, the defense chief painted a picture of Russian forces suffering heavy casualties and low morale, with equipment shortages and a massive military convoy bogged down outside the capital Kyiv.

The Kremlin has lost more troops in Afghanistan in a week than Britain has in 20 years, and some “senior elements of the Russian armed forces” have been decimated.

He described stories of soldiers whose morale was so low that they left the convoy bound for Kyiv to camp in the forest.

On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy delivered a fiery speech in which he said the West’s reluctance to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine gave Russia a “green light” to continue bombing towns and villages.

But Admiral Radakin insisted that such intervention would not help.

“The advice we as senior military officers give to our politicians is to avoid things that are tactically ineffective and definitely avoid things that could lead to tactical miscalculations or escalations.”

He said most of the shelling and destruction came from artillery, not Russian planes, and for police a no-fly zone could mean taking out Russian defense systems and shooting down Russian planes — leading to an escalation, he added.

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said Saturday that any such move to establish a no-fly zone would be “considered as participation by that country in an armed conflict.”

Adm Radakin also downplayed Putin’s nuclear threats.

The West must remain calm and responsible and not rashly react to Mr Putin’s recent “bizarre or ridiculous comment”, he said.

“We are prepared, we are professional armed forces, we will approach this conflict with the level of professionalism and responsibility you would expect.

“We will also be incredibly confident that we can face President Putin,” he added.

Adm Radakin was also asked if the West knew in advance if Mr. Putin would use nuclear weapons.

He said he didn’t want to go into detail, but said there had been a “remarkable” level of intelligence information in the months leading up to the invasion.

“There are some more discrete elements in relation to red flags if this would begin to show a path toward nuclear escalation,” he said.