Volunteer soldier Adam Ennis ’s friends have told of his “last supper” lunch before departing for the front line in Ukraine.
Fraser Jamieson, a newsagent in Biggar, said he was shocked at his untrained pal’s decision to sign up for Ukraine’s foreign legion, which has attracted people from all over the world.
He told how garage owner Adam, 35, went to see each of his close friends personally to break the news before a final lunch ahead of his departure from the Lanarkshire town.
Fraser, 44, said: “We are extremely worried about him and my own first reaction was that he was nuts. My first instinct was that he was being selfish because he has a good family and lots of friends and it’s his life he is putting on the line.
“But after he laid down his reasons I had to just accept that he was doing what he thought was right.
“He said he’ll be there until the bitter end but he is confident that the Ukrainians can win. He knows the risks and he told us the other day about seeing a Ukrainian soldier being vaporised by a shell. It's hard to get your head around stuff like that.
“He has a very strong moral compass and he simply believes that, at this point in his life, he wants to make a stand for what is right. It’s his choice.
“There isn’t really a minute that goes by when he isn’t in our thoughts.”
Fraser put the Daily Record’s front page story on Adam’s Ukraine crusade at the front of his shop, Hamilton’s Newsagents, on the Main Street.
It showed him in full army gear, toting machine guns and posing with his platoon in Kyiv city centre.
He said: “There’s obviously been a lot of interest in what he is doing and different people will have a different take on what he’s all about.
“I know he had to phone his parents up and tell them and that would have been hard for him and for them.
“The first I heard of it when he turned up at my house and just came out with it. He said he wanted to tell me in person and it took me a bit of time to take it in. He went round to another few close friends.
“Before he left he took us to lunch at the Crown Inn and we were able to talk it through.
“We referred to it as the ‘last supper’, which was maybe not the best way to refer to it because it’s not something to laugh about and we very much look forward to seeing Adam back in Biggar again soon.’
Fraser added: “In the last couple of days I’ve been encouraged to see more talk about finding a settlement and I’m starting to believe that is something that can happen.
“Experts don’t seem to believe that the Russians can win in the Ukraine cities, especially Kyiv. So if Putin is looking for a way out it seems they might be able to negotiate one.”
Fraser said it was odd that friends can keep in touch with their mate in the middle of life or death operations.
He said: “The conflict doesn’t seem too far removed from traditional wars but it does seem odd that we can get daily updates on how he is doing.”
The Record told earlier this week how Adam went to Ukraine via Poland on a £40 Ryanair tourist flight a fortnight ago.
He presented himself to the Ukraine Embassy in Warsaw, who put him in touch with the military.
He was then given papers to allow him to cross the border and coordinates for a rendezvous point near Lviv.
He travelled to the Yavoriv military base, which was bombed in a huge cruise missile strike just days after Adam was designated to the international platoon that was sent to Kyiv.
He believes he met several of the foreign legion soldiers who were killed in that attack.
He also told how he has met three other Scots volunteers since he arrived in Ukraine.
Adam’s only previous military experience was while at posh Merchiston Castle School, in the Combined Cadet Force.
It taught drill, first-aid, target shooting, campcraft, and fieldcraft. All pupils are expected to take part.
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