The eldest son of a Tory MP and former government minister is among a group of British ex-servicemen who have joined the war in Ukraine.
Ben Grant, 30, who spent more than five years as a commando in the Royal Marines, is part of group of seven ex-servicemen who arrived in Ukraine over the weekend to fight invading Russian forces.
His mother is Helen Grant, the Conservative MP for Maidstone and Boris Johnson’s special envoy on girls’ education. She is also a former minister for sport and tourism.
The Guardian spoke to Grant in the ticket hall of Lviv station on Saturday as he waited to board a train for Kyiv.
He said: “I haven’t been sent, nothing to do with the government, nothing to do with my mother. Just wanna make that clear, completely off my own back, I decided to do this. I didn’t even tell my mum, but it is what it is.”
Grant said he chose to head for Ukraine after seeing footage of Russian bombing of a house where a child could be heard screaming. He said: “I thought, I am a father of three, and if that was my kids I know what I would do, I would go and fight. Then I thought I would want another load of people who might be skilled enough to help me come and help me, come and help me, save my family.”
Grant said he expects scores more ex-servicemen to join from the UK. He said: “In total we have another 100 people coming, so this will be really good when they all get here – different backgrounds, some of them are very, very specialist.”
Last week the foreign secretary, Liz Truss, was criticised after saying she would back Britons going to Ukraine to fight Russia. And on Sunday the chief of the defence staff, Tony Radakin, urged the public not to head to Ukraine. He said: “We’ve been very clear that it’s unlawful as well as unhelpful for UK military and for the UK population to start going towards Ukraine.”
The risk for foreign fighters in Ukraine was underlined last week when Russia threatened to bring “criminal” prosecution against them.
Russian defence ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov said: “None of the mercenaries the West is sending to Ukraine to fight for the nationalist regime in Kyiv can be considered as combatants in accordance with international humanitarian law or enjoy the status of prisoners of war.”
Grant said he knows that Russia army is not sticking to the Geneva convention and is shooting journalists and civilians. He said he would rather take his own life than be taken prisoner. He said: “If it comes to me being able to end my life before getting captured, I probably would do that. I mentally prepared myself for that, but let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
He added: “Yes, I am scared but I know it’s the right thing, pretty easy decision to make.”
Asked about joining the Ukrainian army he said: “They are strong, they don’t look frightened, they look ready. Will be great to be part of a team that looks ready. They look great, they got fires in their bellies, I want to be part of that to help.”
Grant also told Reuters that he would wait to see how he and his comrades would be deployed. “Who knows, maybe an independent unit is what gets formed,” he said as Ukrainians thanked him for coming.
Grant, who has been working as a security contractor in Iraq, described how he broke the news to his family. He said: “I was over in Iraq and was there for few months and then flew home, saw my missus and kids, hadn’t seen them for a while, and basically said: ‘I’m going to Ukraine.’ So big shock, I feel a bit sorry for them to be fair … they were pretty upset, but people need me here.”
One of Grant’s comrades, who identified himself only as Ash from London, said he wanted to go to Ukraine after seeing a video of a plane firing a missile at a family’s home.
Another gave his name as Jax, and like Grant said he had worked in private security in Iraq. He said: “I left £4,500 a month to come here.”
Jax said his family was supportive, and said they know that once he made up his mind, he “couldn’t be budged”. He added: “I’ll stay to the bitter end, even if I’ll take a bullet to the chest.”
Helen Grant has been contacted for comment.
