One of the first British soldiers to volunteer in Ukraine is seriously injured stepping on landmine

A dad-of-two who could ‘never settle’ in civilian jobs after leaving the army was blasted by a Russian landmine while fighting in Ukraine.

James Smith, 33, from Eastham in Wirral, stepped on a Russian landmine while in the South of Ukraine on Sunday, June 18.

James was injured as his team were working to clear a number of landmines 20 metres away from Russian trenches. He said he ran to a wooded area for cover where he accidentally stepped on a landmine and was blasted.

He was taken to hospital where he underwent a number of operations including one where he lost a toe on his left foot and had a metal rod placed in his foot.

He’s also had shrapnel surgically removed from his left and right legs and is receiving antibiotics and pain killers. He’s now been moved to another hospital in Kiev and is making plans to come back to his family home in Wirral to recover.

Smith was one of the first British soldiers to sign up to fight in Ukraine after Russia invaded

The Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office continues to advise British nationals against all travel to Ukraine.

When asked by the Liverpool Echo why he decided to go over to Ukraine, James said: ‘For me it just seemed like a big form of bullying, there was no reason for Russia to invade Ukraine. 

‘They said they needed people with my exact skill set to help save lives so I went.

‘Six days after the war started I was on the frontline in Ukraine.’

James had previously done two tours of Afghanistan before leaving the British Army when his two children started school. 

James’ mum, Jo Farnley, 56, said her son was one of the first soldiers from the UK to volunteer in Ukraine.

She said: ‘He has a military background, from 16 he went to Army Foundation College and by 18 he was in the Army. We paid for him to go on a plastering course and he was doing scaffolding but he could never settle.

‘He was just itching to be elsewhere because that’s what he has been trained to do. I thought he was going to join the British Army again, I never in a million years expected he would go over to Ukraine. I was quite shocked.’

James is now trying to raise funds through a JustGiving page to help him fly back home, pay medical expenses for prosthetics, and recover.

James was injured as his team were working to clear a number of landmines 20 metres away from Russian trenches. He said he ran to a wooded area for cover where he accidentally stepped on a landmine and was blasted, wounding his leg and foot

He was taken to hospital where he underwent a number of operations including one where he lost a toe on his left foot and had a metal rod placed in his foot

Pictures on the page show the extent of his injuries, with a deep wound in his leg that is also marked by shrapnel. His foot, meanwhile, is severely swollen and missing his second toe, and has been stitched together. 

A photograph of him lying in a Kyiv hospital bed showed other wounds on his arm as well. Nevertheless, he is seen giving a thumbs up to the camera.

He said: ‘I was one of the first soldiers to go to the war and I still don’t regret a thing. I’m asking for a little bit of money to try help me readjust at home.

‘I don’t have a sob story, I’m in good sprits. I still think whatever the negatives of this will be it will never change my mind, I made the right choice coming.

‘I feel really overwhelmed by the money I’ve received so far, I’ve had old friends from school messaging me to say how proud they are of me.’

To donate to James’ fundraising page click here. 

Ukrainian servicemen of the 30th Kostiantyn Ostrozkyi Separate Mechanized Brigade ride in a T-80 main battle tank captured earlier from Russian troops, along a road near the front line town of Bakhmut, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk region, Ukraine June 19

Ukraine forces are currently executing a counteroffensive in the south and east of the country, with the aim of pushing Russian forces back.

A senior security official said on Tuesday that the operation has been ‘particularly fruitful’ in the past few days and Ukraine’s troops are fulfilling their main tasks.

However, President Volodymyr Zelensky has conceded that things are moving slower than he would have liked, as Ukraine has to navigate minefields laid by Russia.

‘I wanted our counteroffensive to happen much earlier, because everyone understood that if the counteroffensive unfolds later, then a bigger part of our territory will be mined,’ Zelensky said in an appearance on CNN. ‘We give our enemy the time and possibility to place more mines and prepare their defensive lines.’