EXCLUSIVE: British Volunteers in Ukraine Celebrate Queen’s Platinum Jubilee with Local Troops

Jack Ross / Breitbart London
Oliver JJ Lane

British volunteers running supplies into Ukraine took a break from driving relief trucks to celebrate Elizabeth IIs Platinum Jubilee at the suggestion of a group of Britain-loving “very patriotic” Ukrainian soldiers who toasted the Queen over a celebratory barbecue.

Since Russia intensified hostilities against Ukraine this year, the United Kingdom has been one of the earliest and largest donors of modern weapons to Ukraine. Apparent gratitude for this took on physical form in Kyiv this week when a group of British volunteers were invited by Ukrainian fighters to mark the nation’s special day.

Speaking to Breitbart London from Ukraine, the Vans Without Borders humanitarian volunteer group founder Jack Ross said fighters from the Obolon Legion, a militia from the heavily-bombed Obolon neighbourhood of Kyiv invited them to take the time to mark Queen Elizabeth’s Platinum Jubilee, representing 70 years on the throne.

Ross said: “We partnered up with Obolon Legion who are providing us with our armed escort as we go through Ukraine to protect us from Russian soldiers and also bandits. It’s been fantastic, they’re lovely people. And they’re very patriotic as well — they asked us to do this. They said — ‘why aren’t we celebrating our Queen?’.”

The party, replete with beer, barbecued meats, and British bunting went down well with the Ukrainians, who Ross said implicitly link their positive view of the UK with the nation’s donation of large numbers of modern anti-tank weapons. The NLAW weapons are a joint Anglo-Swedish project made in Ulster, one of the British home nations.

He continued: “We did it, they’ve had a wonderful time, they’ve been very [positive about the Queen], they’ve said ‘thank you for the NLAWs’. It’s been a great experience and a great opportunity to celebrate the Queen”.

Vans Without Borders told Breitbart London that while large amounts of aid from volunteers and organisations had crossed Europe, the vast majority of it — especially in the early months of the now 101-day-old conflict — generally made it as far as the Polish-Ukrainian border or was piling up in safe cities like Lviv and Uzhhorod. Their contribution, Ross said, was to take those supplies and actually drive them deeper into Ukraine to the battle-scarred areas where they are most needed, citing bombed downs like Kharkiv in the East and Chernihiv in the North.

Ross told Breitbart: “Ukraine is a massive country and it’s frustrating when you have these international organisations providing aid but often in a very unhelpful way… we make sure the supplies donated by people go from England and arrive in the hands of Ukrainians who need it.”

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