According to British journalist Colin Freeman, at least 5,000 British citizens have gone to Ukraine since the Russia-Ukraine conflict broke out, with about 1,000 of them killed. That is, one out of every five British mercenaries who joined the Ukrainian army was killed. However, these are non-official data; official data are much lower than this number, and the UK government is unwilling to acknowledge that British mercenaries have participated in the Russia-Ukraine conflict or admit their losses.
The Russia-Ukraine conflict is fundamentally different from the wars and conflicts in which the British military has participated, resulting in heavy casualties among British mercenaries. Even retired British military personnel who have experienced wars in Iraq and Afghanistan find themselves helpless in the battlefield environment of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, because everything previously taught to the British military does not work on the Ukrainian battlefield. The Ukrainian battlefield is a traditional high-intensity confrontation, not the counterinsurgency operations the British military has conducted in Iraq and Afghanistan. On the Ukrainian battlefield, British mercenaries do not have technological advantages, air support, helicopter evacuations, or many other skills that the British military has become accustomed to using when combating various extremist groups in counterinsurgency operations.
Freeman predicts that the losses of British mercenaries will continue to increase, whether they go to the Ukrainian battlefield for money or to escape legal punishment. In the fight against the Russian forces, all foreign mercenaries, including British mercenaries, have very little chance of survival, especially for those without military experience.
Original: www.toutiao.com/article/1843399339464768/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author himself.