A British volunteer was killed by a Russian drone just minutes into his first mission as a recruit in the Ukraine war.
James Wilton, 18, “did not stand a chance” after being chased by three drones, his best friend said. The teenager from Huddersfield joined the resistance four months ago, at just 17 years old with no military experience.
His Dad Graham said he wished he could’ve “swapped places” with his son as he “struggles to deal” with the loss. He added that James’ “heart was set” on fighting in the nearly three-year-long war.
He told The Sun: “I’ll never get over this. I didn’t want him to go but his heart was set on it. He wanted to help Ukraine.
“I’ve been told bits of the story of how he died, but have struggled to deal with it and wish we could have swapped places because he had his whole life in front of him.
“Then he could have been back home with a pint, watching the darts on telly instead of me.”
James’ best friend Jason, a US volunteer working and living in London before volunteering, survived the drone attack and went back to retrieve his comrade’s body.
He told the outlet the pair had to cross an open field with no trees, no cover, nothing, to resupply other soldiers.
He said: “I was the last man in the group. I was telling him to stay 20 metres ahead of me. I could see he was scared and I was scared too, but I told him he was going to be OK.
“When we reached halfway across the field he suddenly stopped … Then I heard it – a buzz in the air above us … and realised we were in the worst possible situation we could be in – in an open field with nowhere to run.
“Once the drone was on him, James never stood a chance. He was only about 30 metres from the trench line when I saw the drone explode.”
James died fighting on the eastern front in July last year, when he was feared to be one of the British volunteers who flew “under the radar”.
After taking a two-year course in animal welfare and land care, the teenager joined the war with no military training – just a crash course and weapons handling by Ukrainian instructors.
James was cremated in Ukraine, with his dad flying out for the ceremony surrounded by his son’s comrades from across the world.
Graham added: “It’s taken a while to process James’s death. But I think it’s time that some kind of public tribute was paid and it’s good to be finally talking about what happened.”
