A teenager who joined Ukraine's Foreign Legion appeared on ITV's Good Morning Britain to talk about his experience. 19-year-old 'Alex' had no military experience or training before making the decision to travel to the Ukraine-Poland border.
Alex, whose real identity has been protected, lasted just over a week on the continent before returning to the UK after getting caught up in the airstrike on the Yavoriv base. He now says he regrets his decision, and warns anyone considering doing the same not to go.
The teen says he went over to Ukraine because he wanted to help, but received no training before joining the fight. He described his experience to GMB viewers and hosts Susanna Reid and Martin Lewis.
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Alex said: "I have been thinking about joining the army from a young age. But it was more that I was watching children walking with no family members and it just hit me that I needed to stand up and do something. It didn't stop me or shake me at all that I didn't have military experience. In my head I knew what I was doing"
Alex told viewers about the conditions that he lived in, and the lack of experience of everyone in his unit had. He said: "When we got there we were told we would get two weeks of training. But I came up to say six and we still had no weapons training, no survival training. And people were starting to get ill off the food."
Alex then told GMB viewers what it was like when the bombs hit. He said: "At 6.03 in the morning, we heard the first one shoot past the accommodation we were in. It was a bright yellow accommodation with red underneath.
"I didn't think I was going to make it. As soon as I heard that first missile go past I snapped into a calm state. I got my boots on, I got something warm over me. And I ran straight over to the forest to find the nearest trench to jump in. As soon as we got over to the forest I started seeing and hearing explosions all around me and it was worrying because every time you'd hear a whistle over your head, you'd jump onto the floor and think it was your last."
He added: "I know a few people that were killed. Some of them I was with for the whole six days, and some I met in Poland. They passed away - I saw some of their faces in bodybags."
Mum 'Lisa' was told about Alex's plan to join the fight the night before he left. She says she was not sure whether to believe it, or if it was a joke. She later tried to follow his journey by keeping in contact and tracking his phone.
Alex's mum Lisa said: "I knew where he had crossed over from Poland to Lviv. So even though I didn't know exactly where they were in Ukraine but I presumed it would be around that area. When I heard that the missiles had hit, I felt sick. It was the first thing that I'd seen on my phone in the morning and I felt sick.
"I just went into panic mode. Trying to text him, WhatsApp him, and I went onto my computer and thought how can I track a phone? Because he had his location turned off. It's like your head's on a hamster wheel. As long as you know where he is, then I'd know that he was safe or not.
"It wasn't until later on that meeting that we finally got a message from some other person's Facebook profile. And I know there has been a lot of scam going on recently so I wasn't sure if that was true or not."
Alex says regrets going to fight in Ukraine. He is telling people not to go if they are considering it. He said: "Look how it would affect your family. Look how it would affect the people around them. Because once you're out there, that could be your last second, and you'll never be able to see those people again."
Alex says he has stopped watching the news about Ukraine in case he feels the "hatred" to go back over there.
