Ex-British Army soldier killed in Ukraine after volunteering to fight Putin troops

A former British Army soldier has been killed in Ukraine after volunteering to fight in the war against Russia.

Christopher ‘Pezz’ Perryman, 38, who had been fighting with units of Western volunteers, was killed on a mission this week. He first travelled to Ukraine shortly after Russia’s invasion in February, 2022.

The ex-British Army sniper was a former platoon sergeant who served in the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, 1st Battallion, for 16 years and saw tours of Iraq and Afghanistan, before moving into close protection security work in hotspots like Somalia.

A fellow Western fighter who was on the same operation Mr Perryman was killed in told i: “Pezz is a big loss for everyone.”

At least 11 British nationals have been killed in Ukraine after going to fight. The Government has urged against all travel to the wartorn country.

Friends and family have paid tribute to Mr Perryman on social media, with his sister writing: “Last night our hearts were shattered and our world torn apart. We lost Pezz Perryman.

“He died a true hero, fighting a war that was never his to fight, I don’t think we as a family will ever get over this. He went to Ukraine to help others, and it cost him his life.”

A volunteer who fought alongside him posted on X/ Twitter: “The King of the North is gone. Always together from the start of this war, we went through so much, we laughed so hard together.

“I learn so much from you. We could talk about everything, we understand each other, we complete each other you the soldier, me the fighter.

“You the sniper, me the machine gunner. We have this love, trust and respect only true brother can have for each other. You fight hard, for people’s freedom, your life has been full, you deserve to rest in peace now.”

Mr Perryman, originally from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, travelled to Lviv shortly after the war broke out intending to use his expertise as a military instructor to train Ukrainian forces.

But he travelled to the war-ravaged south east of the country to take up arms on the frontline after a local commander told him they were “desperate” for fighters, joining a reconnaissance team and then a battalion of marines.

Speaking to i last year, he told how he was part of a unit of foreign volunteers fighting for weeks alongside Ukrainian forces to defend a key bridge across the Southern Bug river between Odesa and Mykolaiv, taking out Russian armour with British-supplied anti-tank weapons.

Fighters used next-generation light anti-tank weapons (NLAWs), and Javelin guided missiles to inflict maximum damage on approaching Russian T-72 tanks and BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicles.

Related Article

Mr Perryman said he felt “sick to the pit of my stomach” after seeing Russian forces deliberately targeting civilians and refugees with air strikes and artillery as he spoke about his motivation in travelling to Ukraine to fight.

“I always found that I would do what I could in my life to stop bullies,” he told i.

“Yes, I signed an oath of allegiance to defend the Queen and Britain, but my oath doesn’t just stop with defending my country. I signed an oath to defend the weak and the needy and people who need help.

“In Ukraine, we were fighting every day for all of those people getting killed every day unnecessarily. It does give you a reason to fight harder.”

He described how during the fierce combat firefights raged from first light until dusk, with artillery strikes targeting the area they were based in.

After returning to the UK following an injury last year, he went back to Ukraine and joined another unit of western volunteers fighting with Ukrainian forces for the islands along the Dnipro river near Kherson, using speedboats to mount missions.

His team also helped liberate villages held by Russian troops during the advance on Kherson as it was retaken by Ukrainian forces.

A Foreign Office spokesperson said: “We are supporting the family of a British man who died in Ukraine, and are in contact with the local authorities.”

Hundreds of British nationals are believed to have travelled to Ukraine to fight since the start of the war,

The first British fighter killed in Ukraine, Scott Sibley, 36, died last April after being struck by mortar fire as his unit came under attack.

Jordan Gatley, 24, who had served in the Edinburgh-based third battalion of The Rifles, was killed fighting for Ukrainian armed forces in June 2022 during a battle with Chechen and Russian special forces in Severodonetsk.

Andrew Bagshaw, 48, had been helping evacuate civilians from Soledar, in the eastern Donbas region, with fellow British aid worker Chris Parry, 28, when they were killed in January.