Oldham father’s ‘horror’ as son fights for Putin a second time

• By Jonny Humphries
• BBC News, Manchester

A father has spoken of his “horror” after his son, who was jailed in the UK for fighting for Putin has returned to Ukraine after his release.

Ben Stimson, from Oldham, along with Aiden Minnis, from Wiltshire, are understood to be in the Donbas region, which is under Russian occupation.

Stimson’s father said he had cut communication with his son.

In a video posted to Youtube, Stimson says: “Every man takes his choice, a lot of us, the foreign volunteers, have chosen to come over to this side, to the Russian side.”

The BBC spoke to Mr Stimson’s father, Martin Stimson, who said he had cut off all communication with his son and was “horrified” at hearing he was fighting for Russia.

He said: “I have no control over him, he’s a 48-year-old man.”

Minnis, from Chippenham, had previously been jailed for assault and was linked to the far-right National Front.

The two men were believed to be the first British nationals fighting for Russian president Vladimir Putin since he ordered the full scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Philip Ingram, a former senior British military intelligence officer, told BBC North West Tonight that the decision to fight for Russia was “signing your own death warrant”.

He said despite their criminal convictions, neither man would likely have been stopped from leaving the country if they held valid passports.

Mr Ingram said the Russian military leadership were using their troops as “cannon fodder” in “human waves” against Ukrainian defenses.

He suggested the fact the men had posted videos and images onto social media could provide Ukrainian intelligence services with information, which could “impact their life expectations”.

A spokesperson for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said: “Reports of British nationals taking part in Putin’s illegal invasion are shocking and their alleged actions are reprehensible.

“Those who travel from the UK to conflict zones to engage in unlawful activity should expect to be investigated upon their return.”