Bradley Townsend, a 33-year-old from Barnsley, South Yorkshire, was killed on 10 June in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region while fighting for Russian forces, in what is believed to be the first death of a British citizen fighting for Moscow in the conflict. Townsend was reportedly killed by a remote-controlled first-person-view drone near Lyman during what a Russia-linked social media account described as a 'storm operation.'
Townsend left Britain in April after telling his family he was travelling to Romania, but instead went to Moscow, where he met Aiden Minnis and Ben Stimson, who are thought to have recruited him online. He had previously appeared alongside them in a recruitment video posted in April. Stimson was jailed in the UK in 2015 for joining pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. Townsend was granted Russian citizenship for joining the military campaign.
The FCDO confirmed it was in contact with Townsend's family. Former security minister Tom Tugendhat called Townsend's actions 'unbelievably stupid', while the prime minister's spokesperson reaffirmed UK support for Ukraine.