The ex-British Army soldier’s unit of international volunteers defended Serebryansky forest on a battlefield reminiscent of the Somme
A British Army veteran fighting for Ukraine has recalled brutal trench warfare on the eastern front as his unit engaged in close-quarter combat with Russian troops.
The fighter was part of a team of International Legion volunteers defending the heavily contested Serebryansky forest, in the Luhansk Oblast in eastern Ukraine, for six months, where footage shared with The i Paper showed a beaten battleground reminiscent of the Somme.
The British Army veteran, whose callsign is ‘Knight’, described hurling grenades down their trench to repel waves of crack Russian infantry, who used thermal cloaks to hide from drones and storm their position in surprise dawn raids.
In one attack, he was hit by the shockwaves of a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) knocking him to the ground as the Russians pounded their bunkers.
GoPro video shows his Thorne Assault Group unit, including several other British troops, in fierce firefights with the enemy, unleashing RPGs and machine guns while being bombarded with drones.
A British soldier on the front line in Ukraine during trench warfare in the Serebryansky forest (Photo: Supplied)
The Serebryansky forest, scene of some of the war’s bloodiest clashes since Russia’s full-scale 2022 invasion, has been badly destroyed after years of bitter combat, with trees stripped to burnt-out stumps.
“We were defending the trenches from assaults. Around June and July the Russians started taking our trenches one by one and they flattened the whole area,” the soldier told The i Paper.
“These Russians were really professional. Before, they were conscripts. They assaulted one of our positions by dawn, using thermal blankets.
“They snuck up and crawled the whole way until they got within 50 metres.
“Apparently, the drone didn’t catch them until they took the thermals off, and then they just charged straight into one of our positions and took the guys by surprise.
The British soldier took part in fierce firefights with Russian troops on the eastern front (Photo: Supplied)
“Unfortunately, two of my best mates died trying to defend the others in that position.”
Last year’s battle in Luhansk Oblast was the soldier’s first taste of combat in the Ukraine war after enlisting to fight in January 2024 following five years in The Rifles regiment.
Four of his unit were ex-British Army soldiers, including their leader, Jake Waddington, 34, a former Royal Anglian Lance Corporal killed in January, who defended their position with a machine gun during one of the heaviest exchanges, the fighter said.
In footage of the unit repelling one attack, an Australian volunteer, who was killed later that year, calls out “RPG up” before firing an anti-tank grenade towards Russian troops, which explodes in the treeline just yards away.
The former British Army soldier said last year’s battle in the Luhansk region was his first experience of combat in the Ukraine war (Photo: Supplied)
The former British soldier had taken up a firing position in a bunker and described being concussed by a Russian RPG during the battle.
“They could hit our bunker because they were on higher ground, but luckily I never got shrapnel, just concussion from the blast wave of the explosion,” he said. “The best way to describe the feeling is like getting hit in the face with a huge burst of invisible energy.
“The worst experience I had with a close RPG explosion, it knocked me on the ground and made me see blurry. I had to crawl on my hands and knees back into the cover of our positions.”
After Russian troops overran two of their positions nearby, his unit piled obstacles including shovels, pick axes and tarpaulin into the trench so they would hear any surprise overnight attack.
The battlefield was reminiscent of the Somme in the First World War (Photo: Supplied)
“It was only until the morning when it all started. They began using FPV [First Person View] drones, and then they caved in one of our entrances, so we only had one left to escape from,” he said.
“We’ve been told never to get captured. It’s a fate worse than death being captured by Russians. They really dislike foreign soldiers. We have a high bounty on our heads.
“If they’re a professional unit, then maybe they’ll take you as a prisoner, but if they’re not, then you will end up dying, but just very slowly. It’s pretty brutal.”
Other footage shows the British volunteer racing through trenches, handing magazines to comrades before firing a machine gun as an intense battle rages.
The team of international volunteers battled Russian forces in the forest for several months (Photo: Supplied)
He is also seen under artillery and drone attack in a sandbagged bunker calling out “everyone okay?” after one explosion.
The unit had used an electronic warfare jammer to block FPVs, but the Russians started using Mavic dropper drones whose signals couldn’t be blocked.
“One of the guys, an [ex-]US marine who tried to shoot one down, got injured when it dropped a mortar round,” he said.
“But the shrapnel went through his right buttock, his femur on his right side was snapped completely in half and and his pelvis was shattered. Luckily, he’s still alive.”
The British fighter is still serving with the Ukrainian military in the legion’s second battallion, and fought in the Kursk offensive into Russia.
The Government has warned UK nationals not to fight in Ukraine, but hundreds are believed to have volunteered to take part in Europe’s bloodiest conflict since the Second World War.