British tourist who was in Afghanistan is now in Ukraine

A British man has travelled to Ukraine and claims it’s still safer than Birmingham and London.

Miles Routledge was in Afghanistan when the Taliban seized control of Kabul and the rest of the country last year.

At the time, he said he looked up the most dangerous places in the world and picked Kabul off the list. He had to be rescued and evacuated to Dubai and received criticism from some for travelling there.

Now, the 21-year-old has travelled to Ukraine as the country has been forced into a war with Russia following its invasion.

Sign up to our new free Indy100 weekly newsletter

The former student of Loughborough University travelled to eastern Europe on 25th February – the day after Russia began its invasion. He has been documenting his experience in the capital city of Kyiv on social media.

Currently, Russian troops are trying to take control of the city and people have been confined to bomb shelters and underground bunkers for safety.

In one tweet, Routledge claimed he had befriended some Ukrainian soldiers and was given a military uniform.

He wrote: “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.”

While on his journey to Kyiv and to a literal warzone, he said it was safer than Birmingham or London.

Routledge has set up online donation websites and said he will use the funds raised to help locals get supplies. He also claims there are veterans setting up field hospitals in safe houses in case the city becomes completely occupied.

The bomb shelter in the hotel he was staying in while in Kyiv appeared to hold gym equipment. Routledge tweeted an image and claimed people were sleeping on treadmills.

During a live stream broadcast, LADbible reports Routledge 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.”

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.