British traitor who joined Vladimir Putin’s military ‘killed by Ukraine drone’

It has been heavily reported that one of Putin’s top dogs has died in war, with British national Bradley Townsend understood to have been killed in a drone strike

A man who left Britain to join Vladimir Putin’s war efforts has reportedly been killed. It has been widely reported that a drone strike has killed British national Bradley Townsend, 33.

It is yet to be confirmed by British authorities but it would make Mr Townsend the first Brit to die fighting for Russia against Ukraine. The 33-year-old was reportedly killed in June by a remote-controlled first-person-view drone near Lyman, a city in Donetsk.

He previously had claimed he signed up to fight for Vladimir Putin’s army to repay the Donbas for supporting striking miners in the 1980s. Previously a fisherman, Townsend, left Barnsley for Russia in April and joined the Russian armed forces, despite having no previous military experience.

Aiden Minnis, a fellow Briton fighting in Putin’s forces, said he had “sacrificed his life for our cause”. If confirmed, Mr Townsend would become the first British volunteer known to have died since the war in Ukraine began.

He had described himself as a “normal working-class lad from Yorkshire” and said he had joined up to help Russian separatists in eastern Donbas.

Before leaving, he wrote on social media: “I came with the idea that I probably wouldn’t be able to go home. I’d definitely get persecuted if I went back. I’m not here for a suicide mission, but I understand that’s what can happen. This was my own decision, I wasn’t pushed into anything.”

In another post, Mr Townsend said miners from the Donbas had donated a month’s wages to Yorkshire miners during strikes in the 1980s, and that he wished to “repay that favour”.

Tom Tugendhat, the Conservative MP for Tunbridge and a former security minister, said he was “very sorry for him and his family” but that joining the Russian armed forces was “unbelievably stupid”.

He said: “It’s extremely misguided and, you know, no question about it, it’s criminal because you’re engaging in an army that is committing the most barbarous war crimes that the world has seen in decades.”

The news that he passed has come from widely reported local media and tributes on social media.

Posted by Mr Minnis, it read: “Bradley Spencer Townsend, call sign ‘Badger’, our beloved comrade-in-arms went into the storm and fell on the battlefield near Liman [sic].

“He made the journey from Great Britain to Russia, he chose to walk in his grandfather’s footsteps and answered the call to fight fascism. I had the pleasure of spending some time with Bradley before he decided to sign his contract.

“We discussed the danger he would be facing, but he insisted that his mind was made up and he wanted to help the people of Russia defeat the Nazis.

“Ultimately, he sacrificed his life for our cause. His service was brief but he blazed the brightest star. Rest in Paradise brother. ‘To die a warrior in a Holy War is to live forever’.”