Douglas Cartner met the soldiers in a bar in Kyiv during a break from the front. They said they were serving with the British Army, training Ukrainian forces to use new weapon systems, he recalls.

“It was a bread-and-butter description of running through wiring systems and the operation of specific equipment,” said Cartner, referring to field artillery systems and portable missile launchers.

Cartner, 30, is a former agricultural engineer from southern Scotland. He has been fighting for Ukraine since the early days of the war, in the international legion and then the regular Ukrainian army, and now serves as an explosives specialist – a “sapper” – in a drone unit in the southern region of Kherson.

Most of the British fighters he encounters in Ukraine are volunteers like himself. But he believes the British state and military are playing a greater role in the war than they acknowledge.

“100 per cent we’re a bit more involved than what’s publicly known,” he told The i Paper via a call from his apartment during a rotation away from the front, smoking a cigarette with a cat on his shoulder. “We have more of a presence.”

The sensitive subject of British boots on the ground in Ukraine has come to the fore again this week following the second confirmed death of a British soldier in the country. The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Major Paul Wilks, 40, who served in the Intelligence Corps, was killed in a road traffic accident.

Major Wilks, who served on multiple tours including to Afghanistan, was awarded two service medals during his tours, and the Long Service and Good Conduct Medal in May.

The UK is officially not directly involved in hostilities, and the Government avoids commenting on British forces in Ukraine. But it told The i Paper there was “a small number of British personnel in Ukraine for providing security to our diplomatic presence and supporting the Armed Forces of Ukraine”.

The first confirmed death of a British soldier, Lance Corporal George Hooley, occurred last December “following a tragic accident whilst observing Ukrainian forces test a new defensive capability, away from the front lines”, according to the MoD.

Leaked Pentagon files in 2023 suggested that dozens of UK special forces were active in Ukraine. has reported that Britain is among several Nato countries fielding “commandos and spies” for special missions in the country. Russian officials have accused the British military of directing Ukrainian strikes, and even taking part in fighting, without providing evidence.

Cartner cites encounters with figures who were providing security services for civilians close to the front. “They had the most ‘I’m a spook’ story you could ever hear,” he said, recalling three men who described identical backgrounds that involved joining and leaving the British Army at the exact same time.

Many more “ex-squaddies” from the UK are serving in the Ukrainian army, says Cartner, suggesting that this contingent is growing. “I’ve met a fair few English blokes in my previous unit… There are definitely a lot more than in 2022, when it seemed to be a majority of Americans,” he said.

The international legion was effectively dissolved this year, with foreign recruits integrated into Ukrainian units. British soldiers are filling a wide range of combat roles. Carter has previously served as a medic, infantryman, and grenadier.

The number of UK nationals fighting for Ukraine is unclear. A Georgian commander on the Ukrainian side estimated that there were around 3,000 British volunteers in 2022, but this could not be verified.

Last year, a memorial to British fighters killed in Ukraine listed 40 names. Several more volunteers from the UK have been captured by Russia, and later released in prisoner swaps. Former British Army soldier Hayden Davies remains in a Russian prison and has been sentenced to serve 15 years, with an ongoing campaign to secure his release.

But the single greatest contributor of foreign fighters to the Ukrainian army is Colombia, said Cartner, a claim supported by a Ukrainian media investigation, which found around 7,000 soldiers from the South American country had enlisted.

“Nowadays the majority of newcomers are from Colombia,” he said. “Some are here because they believe in [the Ukrainian cause]. The majority are here because it pays better than back home. And then there are some that are effectively sent by the [drug] cartels. What I’ve heard from the Colombians is they are sent here to gain experience and then they come back and use it for the cartels.”

A investigation last month found that powerful Colombian drug gangs were sending men to Ukraine to gain expertise in drone warfare for use against Colombian government forces. A Ukrainian military recruiter told the newspaper these fighters were being identified and sent home.

But such cases point to Ukraine’s shortages of experienced manpower, Cartner suggests. “They don’t have enough people,” he said. “I’ve seen it more in this unit… there is a lack of extra sappers and really not much training. I wouldn’t even call it training. I got two days’ worth of basically playing around with wires by myself and then asked if I could take a sapper position.”

There is a severe shortage of fighters with infantry experience, he added, which may reflect the high attrition rate at the front. Last week, Poland’s Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, claimed that Ukraine was taking 27,000 casualties a month. Figures for Russia are even higher, according to Western intelligence estimates.

Cartner is preparing to return to the front, and expects another Russian assault before the winter frost sets in. His unit takes a position in a “good old Soviet building” that has survived blasts from enemy drones and artillery.

“We do quite frequently get hit by ordnance of different types… and seeing some of the kind of hits this building can take, it does ease your mind quite a lot,” he said.

The greatest fear is Russian glide bombs, which can weigh more than a tonne and level buildings. “But there’s not much we can do about that,” he said.