A British army veteran has explained how he took out a Russian tank convoy after joining an 100-strong militia defending Ukraine.
When Vladimir Putin commenced his 'special military operation', declaring a calamitous war now on its 19th day, Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed to those willing and able to take up arms and join the country's territorial defence forces.
That call stretched beyond Ukraine's own borders, with foreign fighters flocking to fight against the Russian invasion, including several Brits.
Zac West, a 50-year-old former Royal Artillery gunner from Worcester, is helping to defend the residents of Zaporizhzhya on the Dnieper river, in the south of Ukraine.
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West, who has 26 years of service under his belt, has been partaking in nightly ambushes on Russian lines in order to halt their advance towards the area, home to a large nuclear power plant surrounded by fighting between both sides.
"The main Russian assault force on the town is defeated. They are down to 20 per of their battle strength. We have had some success," he told the MailOnline.
"On Friday night we had had a very eventful night, no sleep and no peace. We managed to ambush a Russian armoured convoy successfully.
"In retaliation they destroyed a Ukrainian military ambulance, eight KIA [killed in action].
"But in the previous action we destroyed a BMP 2 [armoured troop carrier], two T64 [battle tanks] and some supply vehicles. Four combat patrols went out and all came back home safely."
West said his group have been operating 'every night... we have knocked out about 50 Russian vehicles and taken about 80 prisoners, mostly 18-year-old kids from Siberia. Conscripts. They don’t know why they are here.'
West rose to become operations warrant officer, thereby a member of the highest group of non-commissioned ranks in the British Army, serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as being deployed to Northern Ireland, Cyprus and Belize.
However, unlike other British nationals who've specifically flown to Ukraine to fight, West has been living there for the past 10 years.
"I love it. I have a Ukrainian partner and a six-year-old son Adam," he said.
"My friends know I was in the army and about two weeks before war broke out they asked me to run a battlefield first aid course," he added. "Now I help organise ambushes and organise patrols. We operate in sections of about eight to 10 and go out at night.
"There’s about 100 of us fighting together. I’m the only Brit and I’m probably the oldest. But I am the most experienced.
"There was no way I was going to abandon them. This is my home and I will protect it like every other man here."
If you would like to donate to the Red Cross Emergency Appeal, which will help provide food, medicines and basic medical supplies, shelter and water to those in Ukraine, click here for more information.
Cameron Frew