British Army renews warning to troops after soldier locked up for going AWOL to fight in Ukraine

The British Army has renewed its warning to troops considering fighting in the Ukraine war after a soldier was locked up for going AWOL to fight for pro-Ukrainian forces.

Fusilier Alexander Garms-Rizzi, who was sentenced to 12 months in a military detention centre, was deployed to Estonia while serving with the Royal Welsh on Nato's Operation Cabrit and admitted he crossed the border to join Ukrainian forces.

A court martial heard how he worked alongside the Ukrainian militia as a rifleman, defying orders and creating a security risk.

An Army spokesperson said: "Serving personnel have a duty to the UK Armed Forces.

"They are not authorised to be absent and to join foreign services while serving the Colours."

Fus Garms-Rizzi is the first member of the Armed Forces to be sentenced to detention at the Military Corrective Training Centre for deploying to Ukraine without authorisation.

The 21-year-old soldier was sentenced on Monday at Bulford Military Court Centre by Judge Advocate General Darren Reed, who said: "The order not to go to Ukraine could not have been clearer. The order was there to protect British forces and the state from being dragged into the conflict."

The military court heard the soldier, a fluent Russian speaker, had been deployed to Estonia in November 2021 with the rest of his unit as part of Operation Cabrit and Nato's enhanced Forward Presence in the region.

Fus Garms-Rizzi went on leave from March 2022, and failed to return two weeks later, the court was told.

When his unit managed to contact him, the soldier, who lived in Russia until the age of 12 and had Ukrainian friends, admitted he had gone to join the war.

Colonel Grant Davies, prosecuting, told the military court: "Fus Garms-Rizzi had regularly expressed concerns about the situation in Ukraine to colleagues.

"His mother is Russian. He is a fluent Russian and Italian speaker.

"A number of attempts were made to contact him.

"In messages he admitted that he was in Ukraine. He said he knew what he was doing was wrong.

"On 22 September [2022] he was arrested at the port of Dover.

"Police seized foreign military clothing and Ukrainian insignia.

"In interview he said he went over to help the Ukrainian people. He said he couldn't just stand by and watch things unfold.

"He told police he didn't formally sign up, but said he was paid by the Ukrainian government. The Crown has found no evidence of this having happened.

"Fus Garms-Rizzi said he carried out medical extractions and did some translation.

"[Had he not been absent without leave] he would have taken further part in Operation Cabrit. His unit could not find a replacement for him.

"The potential harm to the reputation of the British Armed Forces this could have caused is difficult to understate.

"He caused a security risk to himself and to HM Government had he been captured."

'I think I did the right thing'

After being arrested when he re-entered the UK, the soldier pleaded guilty to being absent without leave and to a charge of contravening standing orders.

Representing himself, Fus Garms-Rizzi told the hearing he had not been able to "just stand by and watch things unfold" while his Ukrainian school friends were killed.

He said: "I handed myself in in Dover.

"My mother is Russian. If I go back to Russia [to see her] I will be sentenced to the Gulag. I can't see anyone in Russia.

"[I went because] my friends were getting killed. I have Ukrainian friends from school who I met in Russia. I think I did the right thing.

"[My role in Ukraine] was a mixture of rifleman work and humanitarian. It was translation and medical care."

As he sentenced him and dismissed him from the Armed Forces, Judge Reed told Fus Garms-Rizzi his actions were "deliberate and pre-meditated".

Fus Garms-Rizzi of Tidworth Barracks, Wiltshire, was dismissed from the Army and handed 12 months military detention.