‘I have buried more than 50 friends’: My life as a British soldier fighting on Ukraine’s bloody front line

Solo, a former British soldier from Yorkshire, who joined the International Legion in Ukraine, tells Kim Sengupta about his brutal close quarters battles with Russian soldiers and the friends he has lost

Former British soldier Solo (left) recalls the death of his friend and fighter Kev (right), who died in a clash against Wagner troops in Bakhmut (Supplied/AP/Reuters)

On the morning Ghost died, Solo was in ferocious combat, exchanging fire with the Russians in a field of swaying tall grass in the bloody struggle to gain ground outside Bakhmut.

Recalling the silhouettes of men lit up in the dawn mist by muzzle flashes from their guns, the former British soldier describes the pale horizon glowing orange from bursts of artillery shells, as he stands surrounded by the urgent whispers and cries of the wounded.

After an hour and a half of this exhausting combat, Solo sees Ghost – his platoon commander – lying nearby with nine bullets in his body, his gun still in his hands.