Brit Student On Holiday In Ukraine Says It’s Still Safer Than London Or Birmingham

A young Brit says he is currently on holiday in Ukraine and that it is 'safer than London and Birmingham'.

Miles Routledge hit the headlines last year when he travelled to Afghanistan as the capital Kabul fell to the Taliban.

Well, the 21-year-old is now back but this time, he's headed to eastern Europe.

The former Loughborough University student has been sharing news from his trip over Twitter and YouTube, posting apparent livestreams from his hotel room in Kyiv.

It comes after Russian president Vladimir Putin declared war on Ukraine, sending thousands of troops over the border last week.

His forces are currently attempting to take control of the capital city, where citizens are having to take to bomb shelters to escape the attack.

Sharing news of his latest trip, Routledge, who left for Ukraine on Friday (25 February), just one day after war was declared, posted a photo of himself, with the caption: "It's official. Tintin goes to Ukraine, he's on the train."

He claims that he is hoping to help people in Ukraine during his stay, and asked his followers for donations to help cover costs and donations to charity.

"I'm going to help with buying locals supplies, if you want to contribute to that cause or help me pay for accommodation, please specify and thankyou," he wrote.

"So I've got veteran mates setting up field hospitals and safe houses in case of full occupation. They're fixing up locals and soldiers. 

"This is still safer than London or Birmingham to be fair. I'm from Birmingham so I'm qualified to say this."

Routledge also claimed that he had previously been in eastern Ukraine before arriving in Kyiv and that he bumped into a group of soldiers, who allegedly gave him their uniform.

He said: "Refresher: Last week when I was in Donetsk, Ukraine, I befriended some soldiers, got a free uniform, wore a Putin mask yelling at the Russians and went to an abandoned old airforce base.

"Getting into Ukraine by train involved no bag or on person scan, didn't check my non-existent PCR either. I identified several areas where something could be smuggled in (open wall compartments, taking screws off etc). It's really a bad situation waiting to happen sadly."

Yesterday (26 February), Routledge said that he had been told to get out of his hotel room and was taken to a makeshift bomb shelter.

He said: "Hotel knocked on my door as sirens went off, we're in a makeshift bomb shelter sleeping on the floor. Lovely stuff.

"Why is the hotel bomb shelter floor more comfortable than my mattress at home?"

He posted a photo of the shelter, adding: "The shelter has a gym but people are sleeping on the treadmills, I'll skip leg day and do bench whilst the bombs drop."

Routledge later returned to his room and shared a livestream, in which he explained that he could hear shelling coming from the distance.

During the broadcast, he said: "If I get a gun and there's a Russian in front of me, yeah, I'm not going to, like, seek it out terribly.

"I'm not gonna hunt down a Russian, but at the same time, if I see one, I will take pleasure in it, not gonna lie - I think I'll enjoy it."

If you would like to donate to the Red Cross Emergency Appeal, which will help provide food, medicines and basic medical supplies, shelter and water to those in Ukraine, click here for more information