An ex-British Army sniper has claimed the Taliban would 'do a better job' than the Russian troops currently occupying Ukraine.
After serving two tours in Afghanistan, 34-year-old former sniper Shane Matthew is now volunteering in Ukraine what he described as a training capacity.
About 20,000 volunteers from across the globe who signed up to help Ukraine fight back against Vladimir Putin's 'special military operation', and after making their way to the country they are now coming up against Russia on the front lines.
This week Matthew witnessed the moment a 12-man Russian foot patrol entered the city of Irpin, near the capital Kyiv, and saw how the Russians 'panicked' when a firefight broke out.
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"There was a lot of gunfire going on and the Russians were panicking", he told The Times. Most of the Russian soldiers were killed, according to Matthew, while a few others fled.
He said: "The Taliban would do a better job, there’s no way they could encircle Kyiv.”
Matthew did not engage in any fighting at the scene, explaining he is not part of the foreign legion and instead is in Ukraine independently to train civilians in the territorial defence forces and teach them first aid and trauma treatment.
During one training session he learned that none of the 50 people he stood before had been shot at before, but in spite of this he expressed belief the Ukrainian fighters were better than their Russian equivalents.
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He claimed he knew he was '100% on the winning side' after witnessing Russia's 'complete incompetence' as they attempted to enter Irpin, describing the opposing force as 'tactically inferior'.
"We’ve managed to take massive amounts of ground from the Russians," he said.
After witnessing the situation at Irpin, Matthew was on his way back to base when the car he was travelling became a target for machine gun fire. He recalled: "We put our foot down and accelerated like hell."
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All volunteers who have come to Ukraine to help defend the country from Russia sign a contract with Kyiv’s pro-western government, after which they are assigned to training groups to have their professional experience evaluated, The Guardian reports.
The volunteer recruits have formed the most significant military formation since the Spanish civil war.
British citizen Igor Gavrylko is among those to have volunteered, being originally from Ukraine, though many have no ties to the country. Speaking about his decision to join the fight to The Guardian, Gavrylko said: "My Ukrainian grandfather fought against the Red Army and the Nazis in world war two. Now it’s my turn to help.”
Featured Image Credit: @shanematthew87/TikTok/AlamyTopics: Ukraine, Russia, Army, UK News, World News