Jordan Gatley’s death has been used in Russia’s political turn against Britain (Image: Getty Images / East2West)
Vladimir Putin’s propagandists have claimed that Britain is at war with Russia in an upset diatribe on Kremlin state television.
Moscow is now using the tragic death of volunteer fighter Jordan Gatley in eastern Ukraine in its revolving stories.
According to political scientist Vladimir Kornilov, this was proof that the Queen’s army is fighting Russian forces in the country.
“I read his father’s post on Facebook, his father’s pain is understandable. He lost his son,” Kornilov told viewers.
“But there he writes that he served in the British Army until March of this year, and then he decided, this is very important, to continue serving in other regions.
‘So he didn’t even consider it like leaving. As far as I know, he didn’t leave. So he must have been reassigned to some service.
The former British soldier was killed in the battle for the city of Severodonetsk, which has suffered intense fighting in recent weeks.
To view this video, enable JavaScript and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video
Ukrainian military tankers in the Donetsk region (Image: Reuters)
Over the weekend, the UK Foreign Office said it was “supporting the family of a British man who has died in Ukraine”.
Her identity was later confirmed by her devastated family in a Facebook post.
Although reports have highlighted that Gatley left the army before going to fight as a volunteer, Russian TV presenter Vladimir Solovyov claimed that it was a “de facto” admission of the participation of the forces. British in the war.
Kornilov replied: “Very successful. According to British law, if he really joined any other foreign army and is fighting a country that is not officially at war with Britain, he is a mercenary.
“So it turns out that Britain is glorifying these mercenaries as heroes and admits the fact of the war with the Russian Federation. There is no other explanation.
Dean Gatley (left) with his beloved son Jordan (right), who left the British Army in March to volunteer in Ukraine (Image: Facebook)
Western governments, including the British, have given millions of pounds of military aid to Ukraine since Russia launched its invasion in February and sanctioned alleged supporters of Putin’s regime.
But no nation has deployed its own troops to fight the Russians.
Earlier this year, Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, who is the head of the Armed Forces, warned the British not to volunteer abroad.
Other military officials also stressed that this could give Russia a “misperception” that Britain had sent troops.
More: News
The news of Gatley’s death came when two British prisoners of war were sentenced to death after a “spectacular trial” in a Donetsk court.
Aiden Aslin, 28, and Shaun Pinner, 48, were captured in Mariupol fighting for the 36th Ukrainian Marine Brigade, both of which were officially enlisted.
In the same broadcast, Moscow-born political scientist Yakov Kedmi suggested that they should be exchanged for high-profile prisoners in the West: imprisoned WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout.
Contact our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check out our news page.