British fighters Ben Stimson (right) and Aiden Minnis (social media sites)

The Russian News Re website revealed that an uproar arose in Britain after two British volunteers arrived in Donbass to fight on the Russian side.

Writer Valentin Melikov quoted the British newspaper The Sun as saying that the British citizens are Ben Stimson and Aiden Minnis.

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He added that the British media published a number of pictures of them in Russian military uniforms and badges with the flags of the "Donetsk People's Republic and Russia." Stimson and Minnis also regularly post photos, including from the war zone.

Melikov added that Ben Stimson (48 years old) is from Oldham, a suburb of Manchester, and has been known for supporting Russia for many years. In 2015, he was sentenced to more than 5 years in prison for fighting against Ukraine for 4 months alongside the Donbas militia. However, the judge acknowledged that in the end Stimson did not harm anyone.

Besides Russia

He added that Stimson is currently fighting as part of the Pyatnashka Brigade, and he revealed that he returned to Russia in February 2024 via Istanbul, and while he was at Manchester Airport, he was detained and interrogated, and his cell phone and personal laptop were confiscated, but he was allowed to travel outside the country.

“Everyone makes their own choice,” Stimson said in a video posted on social media. “Many of us, foreign volunteers, chose to fight alongside Russia.”

News Re continues that the second fighter, Aiden Minnis (37 years old), comes from the small town of Chippenham, located in western England. He has been described as a supporter of Britain's far-right National Front party, but says he supports Russia in its war on Ukraine.

He added that Minnis was also sentenced to prison in the past after he was convicted of attacking the relatives of a car driver who killed his girlfriend and cousin due to his negligence. He told British media that he always takes photos with the Irish flag in honor of his Irish ancestors.

The writer quoted Colonel Richard Kemp, a retired British Army officer, as telling the Daily Mirror that British citizens fighting for Russia are “an absolute disgrace” and “traitors to their country.” He demanded that they be put in prison if they set foot on British soil.

Many volunteers

Stimson's 76-year-old father told the media that he was angry and refused to acknowledge his son after his return from Russia.

Martin Stimson added: "He's always been a source of worry. You never know what he'll do this time? Now he's on his own."

According to NewsRay, the British in the comments on the Daily Mail website were more supportive of those who chose Russia, believing that Stimson and Minnis faced a completely different situation from that of the British who went to fight for Ukraine.

The website confirmed that the Russian Ministry of Defense talks about the presence of thousands of volunteers from different countries who “expressed their desire to fight alongside the Donetsk and Lugansk republics.”

According to the Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper, the Pyatnashka Brigade in Donetsk includes a large unit of volunteers from multiple countries, including China, Japan, South Korea, Colombia, and even the United States of America.

At the conclusion of the report, the writer noted that foreign media noticed the appearance of migrants from Nepal, Iraq, Zambia, Estonia, Tajikistan and other countries on the Russian side.

Source: Russian press