Ben Stimson and Aiden Mannis are both fighting for Russia (Pictures: Telegram)
A former British Army commander has slammed two Brits as a ‘disgrace’ for taking up arms and fighting alongside Russian troops in Ukraine.
Ben Stimson, 48, and Aiden Minnis, 37, both fled to the Donetsk region to join Vladimir Putin’s forces and posted a video bragging about it.
They are the first two British men known to be fighting for Putin, with Stimson, from Oldham, Manchester, saying in the video: ‘Every man takes his choice… a lot of us, the foreign volunteers, have chosen to come over to this side, to the Russian side.’
Former British Army commander Colonel Richard Kemp told the Mirror: ‘These two are an absolute disgrace and are traitors who upon their return to the UK should be arrested and jailed.
‘These two traitors clearly don’t know who the enemy is.’
Stimson first went to Ukraine in 2015, when he fought alongside Russian separatists in the Donbas region.
Stimson posed with a Ukrainian grenade in one photo (Picture: YouTube)
Minnis once assaulted a homeless man (Picture: Facebook)
Minnis has posed with Irish and Russian flags (Picture: Facebook)
He was arrested upon his arrival back in the UK and jailed for five years. Upon his release last June, locals who knew Stimson said he was ‘homeless and using heroin’ before heading back to Russia to fight.
Before he left for Russia again, he posted: ‘I’m ready to go now, bags packed. I just hope the British police don’t arrest me and make something up or twist things to incriminate me on something that does not exist.’
He was arrested upon arrival at Manchester Airport, but was still allowed to fly to Moscow through Istanbul.
Stimson’s father Martin, 76, is a folk singer and former town councillor who initially supported his son in 2017, before later disowning him.
Martin said of his mercenary son: ‘I’ve cut him off. Before I cut him off he was in Moscow. I’ve been looking after Ben on and off for years and years. He’s on his own now. He’s 48 now, he can do what he wants.
‘He’s been a constant worry. I want a bit of peace at my age. You never know what he’ll do next.’
Photos of the two men in their military fatigues have been shared online (Picture: PA)
Minnis is a criminal with multiple charges on his record (Picture: Facebook)
Both men have uploaded photos and videos of their time in the Russian army (Picture: YouTube)
Stimson’s ‘best friend’ in the Russian army is fellow Brit Minnis, a former National Front member and convicted criminal from Chippenham, Wiltshire.
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He has multiple charges, ranging from dangerous driving causing the deaths of two people, a racist attack and beating up a homeless man.
If either of the two men come back to the UK, they would be arrested under the Foreign Enlistment Act of 1870, which makes it illegal to join the armed forces of a country fighting a state at peace with Britain.
The two also could have anti-terror legislation invoked if they return to Britain.
Both men have posted videos on social media, posing with grenades, various flags and even showing two dead bodies.
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All eyes are on Russia currently as last week, more than 150 people were gunned down in one of Russia’s worst terrorist attacks in the last decade.
Attackers, clad in combat fatigues, hurled explosives and set fire to Crocus Concert Hall in Moscow, days after Vladimir Putin cemented his grip on power for another six years in a highly orchestrated election landslide.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the atrocity, with US intelligence sources saying they informed the Kremlin an attack was being planned by the group’s branch in Afghanistan.
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