Briton fights for Ukraine: Politician's son leads attack on Russian infantry fighting vehicle

Briton Ben Grant fights in Ukraine against the Russian invaders.

Briton fights for Ukraine: Politician's son leads attack on Russian infantry fighting vehicle

Briton Ben Grant fights in Ukraine against the Russian invaders. A video shows how the former Marine and his unit knocked out a Russian military vehicle. Moscow's judiciary wants to hold the son of a Tory MP accountable for his actions and is launching an investigation.

According to media reports, the son of British MP and ex-minister Helen Grant helped destroy a Russian wheeled infantry fighting vehicle in a skirmish in Ukraine. As the newspaper "Independent" reports, there is a video showing the attack by a group of Ukrainian foreign legionnaires. In the short clip, Ben Grant can be heard giving orders before a missile from a Matador anti-tank weapon hits the vehicle. A drone shot shows the armored personnel carrier driving a few meters after being hit before a detonation blasts away parts of the upper armor. According to the newspaper, eight Russian soldiers were killed in the attack.

The 30-year-old Grant has been fighting against Moscow's forces since March as a volunteer in the Ukrainian Foreign Legion. The former British marine described his decision to go to war to a reporter for the Guardian shortly after his arrival in Ukraine. The trigger was therefore a recording of a Russian bomb attack on a house in which a child screamed. "I figured I'm a father of three kids and if they were my kids I know what I would do: I would go and fight," Grant said. According to him, his mother, who was British Minister for Sport and Tourism from 2013 to 2015, was unaware of his plans.

The British press recently reported another video showing Grant a few days before the armored personnel carrier attack. It shows the Afghanistan veteran carrying a comrade injured by a mine from the battlefield under enemy fire. His 15-man unit, consisting of British and American volunteers and two Ukrainian translators, was ambushed in the Kharkiv area, Grant told the Telegraph. Presumably enemy drones had tracked down his unit. In the video, Grant can be heard yelling, "We must move now or we will die," as he and another comrade drag the injured British fighter through a wooded area.

According to the Telegraph, the battle took place in early May. Accordingly, the injured soldier was later treated in a hospital in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, where doctors were able to save his leg.

The Moscow judiciary has already responded to media reports of Grant's actions. "Investigators are investigating the role of a relative of British MP Helen Grant as part of criminal proceedings for mercenary activity," the Russian investigative committee said on Telegram on Sunday. According to the authorities, the accused "led the attack by a group of Western mercenaries on Russian military equipment in Ukraine". In Russia, being a mercenary is punishable by up to seven years in prison. According to Kiev, about 20,000 foreigners are to fight as volunteers on the side of Ukraine.