Two Britons who nearly died fighting in Ukraine reveal why they have returned to war zone – and issue warning about Russia

Published

1 year ago

February 23, 2024

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Two Britons who nearly died fighting in Ukraine have told why they have returned to the war-torn country – and warn urgent help is needed on the frontline in the battle against Russia.

Shareef Amin was seriously wounded by Russian fire after answering President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s call for foreigners to join the Ukrainian military in 2022.

The 41-year-old from Bristol lost part of his hand and his right leg was paralysed from the knee down. He also suffered punctured lungs and severe injuries to his shoulder and forearm.

Fellow Briton Shaun Pinner was captured and tortured by Russian forces after fighting alongside Ukrainian troops in 2022.

The 50-year-old from Hertfordshire was imprisoned for five months – during which time he said he was “electrocuted, starved, beaten… and stabbed” – before he was released in a prisoner swap.

Speaking just before the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Mr Amin and Mr Pinner told Sky News there is no prospect of an end to the war anytime soon – and fear Vladimir Putin will be free to invade more of Europe if urgent help isn’t sent.

“We need support – from Britain, America, Europe – whether it’s bombs, helmets, body armour, or medical equipment, there isn’t enough,” Mr Amin says.

“This is a really dangerous situation. If Russia gets the upper hand and they take Ukraine, they’re not going to stop at that.

“The British and the Europeans need to know this is all of our wars.”

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Mr Pinner says Ukraine is “probably a year off being able to produce enough shells to be able to support” itself.

“We’re going to go through a really tough time before then,” he adds.

“I’ve never lost faith that Ukraine can win. But we’ve got ammo shortages on the frontline that are a real worry. How can you fight with one hand tied behind your back?”

‘Chaotic’ first months in Ukraine

Mr Amin – who spent 13 years in the British military – says he travelled to Ukraine to join the fight against Russia in March 2022 after watching a speech by President Zelenskyy on Instagram.

“I managed to get hold of a group of British guys through WhatsApp and TikTok, and by 11 March we were in Lviv,” he says.

He described his first two months in the country as “chaotic” as he and others felt there wasn’t enough time to go to the British embassy and join the foreign legion through official channels.

“We almost got arrested three times at gunpoint, because we weren’t there under official paperwork – we just had passports, uniforms, and military kit,” he says.

Mr Amin says he initially decided to do some humanitarian work instead, delivering medical supplies around the country, until he was asked to teach one of the territorial units in Western tactics.

By mid-2022, Mr Amin was on the frontline but left after a few months to sign up officially to the Ukrainian military.

He went in search of more specialised work and joined the Main Directorate of Intelligence Unit (GUR) with some fellow Britons.

‘All of a sudden, there was this explosion’

On the frontline in November 2022, Mr Amin’s team was ambushed.

After his team found itself in a line of trees, beyond which there was nothing but flat land, “three or four tanks” emerged and began shooting – followed by artillery, drones and laser-guided missiles, he says.

He and other members of his team were hit. Some of them were killed.

“All of a sudden, there was this explosion,” he recalls.

“The air got sucked out of my lungs and all I could see was a flash of light and it felt like I was pulled underground like an empty can.”

‘He’s not going to make it’

Mr Amin says he was hit by a round of fire that had gone underground before exploding and ricocheting back up through his body armour.

When he eventually got to an ambulance and was taken to hospital, he heard a doctor say “he’s not going to make it” – but he survived despite more than 20 pieces of metal being pulled out of his back.

He spent six weeks in a hospital in Odesa, hoping to recover and quickly return to the frontline.

But he says: “You don’t really come to the realisation your body is destroyed.”

In December 2022, he was flown to the UK for further treatment – but went back to Ukraine in the summer of 2023.

He says he is working with intelligence units there and helping with medical evacuations on the frontline.

“Psychologically, I had to have that purpose again,” Mr Amin says.

“The idea of actually going home and giving up was a no-go.

“I’ve had my ups and downs, but the idea of coming back and still being able to wear the uniform has kept me sane.”

‘You can’t train for pain of torture and starvation’

Mr Pinner was already in Ukraine when Russia invaded on 24 February 2022.

Having spent nine years in the British Army, he had been living with his fiancée in Mariupol since 2018 and was serving in the Ukrainian military.

“I was on a routine deployment when the full-scale invasion happened,” he recalls.

Mr Pinner says he was the first foreigner to become a commander on the frontline as he spoke Russian and had previous military experience.

But in April 2022, he and four other British soldiers were captured and taken prisoner.

He was “electrocuted, starved, beaten, tortured, stabbed in the leg,” he tells Sky News, before being put on a show trial and sentenced to death in Russia’s self-proclaimed People’s Republic of Donetsk.

“I wasn’t expecting the brutality of it,” he says.

“You can’t train for pain. The worst torture was starvation… thinking about food – it’s with you every day, it’s still with me now.”

‘If I got executed, I was dying for a cause’

Mr Pinner says that the Russian he learned as a resident of Mariupol helped him to decipher what was going on during his captivity.

Reflecting on challenges he’d faced outside the military – such as relatives dying, and previous relationship breakdowns – helped keep things in perspective, he adds.

“I was never as low as that when I was in captivity, because I knew if I did get executed, I was dying for a cause,” Mr Pinner says.

He and the other four Britons were unexpectedly freed as part of a prisoner exchange in September 2022.

He was reunited with his family in the UK before returning to Ukraine to live with his wife the following month.

‘I don’t talk to Westerners who’ve just turned up’

Mr Pinner admits being “nervous coming across the border” for the first time after he was freed.

But he says: “My life has changed now. I’m not fighting but I’m helping in another capacity.

“I try to talk about what it’s actually like to live here – and what it was like before the invasion.

“I try to dispel Putin’s narratives on social media because I’m now in a position where I can say, ‘actually that’s not correct, because I’m here and I know’.”

Speaking from Dnipro, where he warns an air raid siren might interrupt the call, he says he discourages any foreigners he speaks to who say they want to come and fight.

“There are some good guys here,” he says. “But they’ve either been here a long time or they’re married to Ukrainians.”

He adds: “I don’t talk to Westerners who have just turned up. You don’t want people coming over who just want to update their YouTube.”

Should the West provide more weapons to Ukraine?

Military analyst Sean Bell agrees with Mr Pinner’s view about Westerners joining the fight.

He stresses the Ukrainians have enough personnel already, and ex-soldiers from NATO countries fighting in a war NATO has refused to enter can cause problems.

Bell says there is even a problem with donating shells, as they encourage attritional warfare, “which generally favours the bigger side” – Russia.

He adds that while the West readily donated precision weapons, as well as long-range missiles and tanks at the start of the conflict, now the UK has “emptied its war chest” of the older, stockpiled equipment, and “it’s got to a stage where we’re not comfortable with giving any more”.

New weapons systems risk falling into the wrong hands and compromising security, he adds, so most focus has now fallen on the US, which is trying to get a $60bn (£47bn) military aid package through Congress.

But Bell warns: “If funding was the only issue, the EU has already promised that much. It’s about converting dollars into weapons. They’re built to order and that all takes years not weeks.”

Mr Amin has written a book about his experience in Ukraine, Freedom At All Costs: A British Veteran’s Experiences Of The War In Ukraine.

Mr Pinner has also written a book, Live. Fight. Survive. He also teaches English and gives talks to Ukrainian soldiers.

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Israeli pilots’ protest letter reveals deepening rift over ongoing war in Gaza

Published

3 hours ago

May 4, 2025

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Israeli pilots' protest letter reveals deepening rift over ongoing war in Gaza

The Israeli Air Force is regarded as one of the country’s most elite units.

So, when hundreds of current and former pilots call for an end to the war in Gaza to get the hostages out, Israelis take notice.

This month, 1,200 pilots caused a storm by signing an open letter arguing the war served mainly “political and personal interests and not security ones”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the original letter was written by “bad apples”.

But Guy Paron, a former pilot and one of those behind the letter, said the Israeli government had failed to move to phase two of the ceasefire deal with Hamas, brokered under US President Donald Trump.

That deal called for a full withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the release of all the remaining hostages. Mr Netanyahu continues to argue that the war must continue to put pressure on Hamas.

Mr Paron said the (Israeli) government “gave up or violated a signed agreement with Hamas” and “threw it to the trash”.

“You have to finish the deal, release the hostages, even if it means stopping that war,” he argued.

It’s not the first time Israeli pilots have taken up a cause. Many of them also campaigned against Mr Netanyahu’s 2023 judicial reforms.

“In this country, 1,000 Israeli Air Force pilots carry a lot of weight,” Mr Paron added.

“The Air Force historically has been the major force and game-changer in all of Israel’s wars, including this current one. The strength of the Air Force is the public’s guarantee of security.”

Anti-government campaign spreads

Now, the open letter campaign has spread to other parts of the military.

More than 15,000 people have signed, including paratroopers, armoured corps, navy, special units, cyber and medics. The list goes on.

Dr Ofer Havakuk has served 200 days during this war as a combat doctor, mostly in Gaza, and believes the government is continuing the war to stay in power.

He has also signed an open letter supporting the pilots and accused the prime minister of putting politics first.

He said Mr Netanyahu “wants to keep his coalition working and to keep the coalition together. For him, this is the main purpose of the war”.

A ceasefire could lead to the collapse of the prime minister’s fragile far-right coalition, which is opposed to ending the war.

Threat of dismissal

The Israeli military has threatened to dismiss those who have signed protest letters.

We met a former pilot who is still an active reservist. He didn’t want to be identified and is worried he could lose his job.

“This is a price that I’m willing to pay, although it is very big for me because I’m volunteering and, as a volunteer, I want to stay on duty for as long as I can,” he told us.

The controversy over the war and the hostages is gaining momentum inside Israel’s military.

It is also exposing deep divisions in society at a time when there is no clear sign about how the government plans to end the war in Gaza, or when.

The renewed war in Gaza over the last year and a half followed deadly Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October 2023, which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and saw around 250 taken hostage.

More than 51,000 people have been killed in Gaza during the Israeli military’s response, many of them civilians, according to the enclave’s Hamas-run Ministry of Health.

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Drone attacks are intensifying in Sudan – hitting schools and camps homing the displaced

Published

1 day ago

May 3, 2025

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Drone attacks are intensifying in Sudan - hitting schools and camps homing the displaced

The smell of explosives is still in the air when we arrive.

Hours before, a displacement camp in Atbara housing families who fled the war in Sudan’s capital Khartoum was hit by two drone strikes in a four-pronged attack.

The first bomb on 25 April burned donated tents and killed the children in them.

The second hit a school serving as a shelter for the spillover of homeless families.

Chunks of cement and plaster had been blasted off the walls of the classrooms where they slept when the second explosive was dropped.

Blood marked the entrance of the temporary home closest to the crater.

Inside, shattered glass and broken window frames speak to the force of the explosion. We were told by their neighbours that four people in the family were instantly killed.

“People were torn apart. This is inhumane,” says their neighbour Mahialdeen, whose brother and sister were injured. “We are praying that God lifts this catastrophe. We left Khartoum because of the fighting and found it here.”

Wiping a tear, he says: “It is chasing us.”

The sanctuary city held by the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) about 200 miles northeast of Khartoum has been hit by six drone attacks by the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since the start of the year.

These latest strikes are the most deadly.

The drones – known for targeting civilian infrastructure – hit the displacement camp twice, the nearby power station supplying the city with electricity and an empty field with four bombs in the dark, early hours of the morning. First responders have told Sky News that 12 people were killed, including at least two children.

RSF increasingly using drones to carry out attacks

Data from the conflict-monitoring organisation ACLED shows the RSF has carried out increasing numbers of drone attacks across the country.

The most targeted states have been Khartoum and North Darfur, where fighting on the ground has been fierce, as well as Atbara’s River Nile State.

The data suggests that the increase in strikes has been driven by a change in tactics following the SAF’s recapture of Khartoum in late March, with the number of strikes carried out by the RSF spiking shortly after their withdrawal from the capital.

Satellite imagery shows the RSF’s airpower has allowed it to continue to attack targets in and around Khartoum.

Nearby Wadi Seidna Airbase was targeted after the attack on Atbara, with damage visible across a large area south of its airfield.

We were given access to the remains of latest suicide drones launched at Khartoum and could not find discernible signs of commercial origin.

Drone experts told Sky News that they are self-built devices made from generic parts with no identifiable manufacturers for the components.

Drones sighted in South Darfur are consistent with Chinese models

High-resolution satellite images confirm the presence of drones at the RSF-held Nyala Airport.

While the total number of drones kept at this location is unknown, imagery from Planet Labs shows six on 24 April.

This is the highest number of drones observed at the airport, suggesting an increase in the RSF’s available airpower.

The location and number of drones visible in satellite imagery at Nyala Airport has varied over time, suggesting they are in active use.

While it is not possible to determine the exact model of drones sighted at Nyala Airport, a report published by researchers at the Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Lab has previously found them to be consistent with the Chinese-produced FH-95.

Analysis carried out by Sky News confirms these findings, with the measurements and visible features matching those of the CH-95 and FH-95. Both designs are produced in China.

The United Arab Emirates is widely accused of supplying Chinese drones to the RSF through South Sudan and Uganda, as well as weapons through Chad. The UAE vehemently denies these claims.

Evidence of new airfields

Satellite imagery viewed by Sky News suggests the RSF has worked to increase its air capabilities outside of South Darfur.

In late 2024, five new airstrips appeared in West Kordofan between the contested cities of North Darfur capital Al Fashir and Khartoum.

While the purpose of these airstrips is unknown, it is clear they carry some level of military significance, having been targeted by air in April.

In high-resolution images, no aircraft can be seen. Damage is visible next to a structure that appears to be an aircraft hangar.

The rapid escalation in drone strikes is being brutally suffered on the ground.

In Atbara’s Police Hospital, we find a ward full of the injured survivors.

One of them, a three-year-old girl called Manasiq, is staring up at the ceiling in wide-eyed shock with her head wrapped in a bandage and her feet covered in dried blood.

Her aunt tells us the explosion flung her small body across the classroom shelter but she miraculously survived.

She has shrapnel in her head and clings onto her aunt as her mother is treated for her own injuries in a ward on the first floor.

In a dark room deeper in the ward, a mother sits on the edge of a hospital bed holding her young injured daughter. Her son, only slightly older, is on a smaller adjustable bed further away.

Fadwa looks forlorn and helpless. Her children were spending the night with relatives in the temporary tents when the first strike hit and killed her eight-year-old son.

His surviving sister and brother have been asking after him, but Fadwa can’t bring herself to break the news.

“What can I say? This is our fate. We fled the war in Khartoum but can’t escape the violence,” Fadwa says, staring off in the distance.

“We are condemned to this fate.”

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Ship carrying aid for Gaza bombed by drones, as NGO points finger at Israel

Published

2 days ago

May 2, 2025

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Ship carrying aid for Gaza bombed by drones, as NGO points finger at Israel

A ship carrying humanitarian aid for Gaza has been bombed by drones while it was in international waters.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition, the NGO responsible for the ship, has pointed the finger at Israel.

Video shows fire raging onboard the vessel, which put out an SOS distress call after it was attacked off the coast of Malta.

It comes as the case against Israel at the International Court of Justice continued this week.

Gaza remains under blockade, with Israel having now refused to allow international aid into the devastated enclave for almost two months despite global outcry.

Following the drone attack, the Maltese government confirmed that after several hours all crew were safe and the fire was under control.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition said: “Israeli ambassadors must be summoned and answer to violations of international law, including the ongoing blockade (of Gaza) and the bombing of our civilian vessel in international waters.”

It asserted that the drone attack “appears to have specifically targeted the ship’s generator” and had left the vessel at risk of sinking.

Describing the attack, it said: “Armed drones attacked the front of an unarmed civilian vessel twice, causing a fire and a substantial breach in the hull.

“The last communication in the early morning of the 2nd of May, indicated the drones are still circling the ship.”

It released video footage shot in the dark that showed lights in the sky in front of the ship and the sound of explosions. The footage also showed the vessel on fire.

The Israeli foreign ministry has not commented on what happened.

Yesterday, UN aid coordinator Tom Fletcher called on Israel to lift the blockade on Gaza, which has been in force for almost two months.

“Yes, the hostages must be released, now. They should never have been taken from their families,” he said.

“But international law is unequivocal: As the occupying power, Israel must allow humanitarian support in.”

Aid should never be a “bargaining chip”, he added.

‘Children going to bed starving’

Juliette Touma, spokesperson for the UN agency for Palestine refugees, UNRWA said: “The siege on Gaza is the silent killer of children, of older people.

“Families – whole families, seven or eight people – are resorting to sharing one can of beans or peas. Imagine not having anything to feed your children. Children in Gaza are going to bed starving.”