After more than 100 days at war, Ukraine is in turmoil. Food is scarce, homes are ruined and the soldiers fighting to protect their homeland are running low on arms.
The port city of Mariupol – all but destroyed by weeks of shelling and now under Russian control – is at risk of a major cholera outbreak. Some 15,000 suspected war crimes have been reported since the conflict began, with 200 to 300 more reported daily.
And Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner are among fighters to have been captured and sentenced to death.
It is remarkable, then, that a handful of British men are still charging into the fray to help. Their compassion for the people of Ukraine is commendable.
Yet the mission of Peter Fouche and Macer Gifford we cover today is one with potentially terrifying consequences.
If captured, they and other international fighters risk being paraded by Putin’s henchmen, convicted as mercenaries and put before his firing squad.
Volunteer fighters from the UK could become a target for Russian troops. We want to do all we can to support Ukraine but surely that should come through our own Government providing arms, funding and military aid.
And by supporting the charities that have people working on the ground there.
Encouraging yet more men to follow in the footsteps of Aslin and Pinner towards such a potentially grim fate – whether they have combat experience or not – is not the answer.
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What the Dickens..
Haven’t kids faced enough hardship in recent years missing school, socialising, education and exams, without returning to classrooms that are falling apart?
They should be safe spaces where they can reach their full potential. Yet almost one in three schools in England needs urgent repairs. Some kids wear mittens as classrooms are so cold, others are being taught at sites with leaky pipes and holes in the wall.
It sounds like a Dickens novel – not an education sector overseen by a Government supposedly levelling up. Boris must rebuild not only our schools but hope for the generation in them.
