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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Stephen Topping & Alahna Kindred

Subway worker, 19, with no military experience leaves family to fight in Ukraine

A teen Subway worker has left his family to join Ukraine in their fight against Russia - despite having no military experience.

Jamie, 19, was influenced online, including by comments made by Foreign Secretary Liz Truss appearing to encourage Brits to join the fight, his family said.

Jamie's mum told ITV Granada Reports : "Every day now I'm just waiting for that phone call in the morning, or that text in the morning, to say 'I'm alive, I'm OK'."

Jamie reportedly contacted a London-based organisation last Friday about fighting in Ukraine, which replied saying he should only travel if he had relevant experience, ManchesterEveningNews reports.

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Jamie's mum has said she's worried about her son (ITV Granada Reports WS)

Jamie, from Warrington, responded saying he already had tickets to fly to Warsaw on Saturday, before he crossed the border into Ukraine.

His mum said: "He's just a lazy teenager, a normal teenage boy.

"He hasn't got any military experience or anything like that - it's just literally from Call of Duty.

Follow all today's latest updates on the conflict with our live blog

"He did go to Army Cadets but he was only at the very early stages - he's never shot a rifle or anything like that."

Jamie's family told ITV they believe he was influenced by comments made by Liz Truss on a recent BBC interview, which was seen as a recently played video on his YouTube profile.

The Foreign Secretary told BBC on February 27: "If people want to support that struggle [in Ukraine] I would support them in doing that."

This footage shows a hospital that has been damaged by Russian airstrikes (National Police of Ukraine/AFP v)

Today, the Government has urged Brits not to travel to Ukraine to fight against Russia.

Defence Minister James Heappey has warned British troops who go AWOL to fight in Ukraine risk Russia wrongly accusing the UK of being more involved than they are.

He told Times Radio a "very small number" of British troops, around three or four troops is the number he has heard, have gone to Ukraine.

Dead bodies are placed into a mass grave on the outskirts of Mariupol (AP)

Prime Minister Boris Johnson told reporters: “I think that everybody seeing what’s happening in Ukraine will understand those feelings and I think many people, many people in our armed forces, will sympathise because I don’t think I’ve ever seen such clear distinction in international affairs between right and wrong and good and evil in what President Putin is doing to people in Ukraine.

“But we have very clear laws in this country. You shouldn’t go to Ukraine, and I’m afraid people going from our armed services, as the Chief of the Defence Staff made clear the other day, will face court martial.”

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