A British man fighting for Vladimir Putin’s forces in Ukraine has been paraded as a propaganda asset on Russian TV by Moscow.
Michael Lee Gareth Jones, 40, who hails from Enfield in North London, is currently undergoing training as a drone operator with Russia’s 61st Marine Brigade.
The couple have a four-year-old son together and Jones also has two daughters born in the UK.
During his appearance on the programme hosted by Vladimir Solovyov, Putin’s prominent television propagandist, Jones confirmed his prior service in the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment, a unit now incorporated into The Rifles.
“They don’t exist anymore. The British Army downsized,” he stated, adding that he departed after just one year upon concluding “we were the aggressors” in Iraq and Afghanistan.
When Mr Solovyov enquired whether instinct had ultimately led him to “Mother Russia,” Jones responded: “I followed the signs from the universe and God served me well.”
Michael Lee Gareth Jones is currently undergoing training as a drone operator with Russia’s 61st Marine Brigade
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Merely 10 weeks after arriving in Russia, the 33-year-old was killed during a “storm operation” involving a remote-controlled drone in eastern Ukraine, close to the city of Lyman.
In a Telegram video recorded in April, Townsend said: “I came with the idea that I probably wouldn’t be able to go home. I’d definitely get persecuted if I went back.”
He described himself as “a normal working-class lad from Yorkshire” and cited his upbringing in a mining community as partial motivation, claiming Donbas workers had donated a month’s wages to Yorkshire miners during the 1980s.
Conservative MP Tom Tugendhat, who represents Tonbridge, expressed sympathy for Townsend’s family but was unequivocal in his condemnation.
He said: “It’s extremely misguided and, you know, no question about it, it’s criminal because you’re engaging in an army that is committing the most barbarous war crimes that the world has seen in decades.”
Former schoolmates and acquaintances painted a picture of a vulnerable man led astray, with one claiming Townsend had been “brainwashed” and another describing him as a “normal guy” exploited by people who recognised his susceptibility as a recruitment opportunity.
A pro-Russian social media account hailed Townsend as a “warrior in a holy war.”
Both Minnis and Stimson could face terrorism charges should they set foot back in Britain.
Stimson was previously imprisoned in 2017 for joining a Russian-backed militia in Ukraine.