A 53-year-old Dumfriesshire man has volunteered to enlist in Ukraine’s foreign legion.
Stefan, who asked that his surname is not revealed, is flying out later this week to take up arms against the Russian invasion force.
He told the Standard: “I’m terrified. I’m going in with my eyes open, I know the risks, I’m scared but determined.”
Stefan, whose father came to the region as a POW at the Hallmuir camp near Lockerbie during the Second World War, added: “I was born in Scotland but I have always felt Ukrainian first.
“I saw that President Zelensky was starting a foreign legion and asking for volunteers to join.
“Ukraine is my homeland and it is being invaded by Russians, I felt it was an obligation to join.
“I could not in good conscience call myself Ukrainian and not join the other people who have joined the army.
“I’m 53, I’ve had a full life but the boys and girls in Ukraine who are only 18 and who have joined the fight have not.”
Father-of-one Stefan works in the health sector and has no military experience.
He said: “I have never served in the army so I will get quite a substantial amount of basic training. I will not be joining the fight for quite a few weeks yet.
“My family is obviously very frightened for my safety. There’s a risk of injury and the possibility of getting killed but I will be keeping my head down as much as I can.
“I have a 31-year-old son who is terrified for me but at the same time he is very proud of me.
“My brother is the same. He said: ‘I knew you would go. It was just a time of when not if’.
“I decided to go pretty much as soon as the invasion started. I have family in western Ukraine who were fairly safe until Saturday but now Russian forces are attacking the danger there is increasing exponentially.
“I have friends in Kyiv who are terrified to go to bed at night because they do not know if their apartment will be bombed.”
Stefan added: “Like most people I was absolutely gobsmacked that Putin actually invaded. We thought it was bluster.
“I do not think anyone thought he was going to invade and attack towns and villages.
“As soon as that happened and as soon as President Zelensky started a foreign legion I decided to join.”
Stefan contacted Ukraine’s embassy in London and was given contact details on how to enlist.
He will fly to Poland and join up with other volunteers before travelling to the border and crossing over into his war torn homeland.
Stefan, who can speak enough Ukrainian “to get by”, said: “It’s not something I would have wanted to do but it’s something I feel I have to do.
“I’m a Ukrainian who just happened to be born in Scotland.”
He said: “You sign a military contract when in Ukraine. It’s open ended, I could be there two months, two years, five years. As long as they need me I will be there.”
