Bradley Townsend, a British national fighting for Russia, has been killed in Ukraine. Townsend was featured in a video shared online on April 4, alongside fellow Britons Ben Stimson and Aiden Minnis, who had reportedly been granted Russian citizenship for their involvement in fighting in the occupied Donbas region.
In the video, uploaded by a Russian recruitment account, Townsend described himself as "a normal working-class lad from Yorkshire." He had informed his family that he was traveling to Romania in April, according to BBC News. In the footage, which was filmed by Stimson with Minnis conducting the interview, Townsend discussed the consequences of his decision to leave the UK and fight for Russia, stating, "I came with the idea that I probably won't be able to go home, definitely get persecuted if I went back." He also added, "I'm not here for a suicide mission, but I understand that's what can happen."
Stimson, from Oldham, and Minnis, from Wiltshire, are believed to be the first British nationals to fight for Russia since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. Stimson had previously been imprisoned in the UK in 2015 for joining pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine.