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British ex-soldiers paraded on Russian TV as Putin's drone recruits days after first UK mercenary died

Michael Lee Gareth Jones, who told Russian state television he believes Ukraine is a "cancerous tumour," is currently training as a drone operator with Russia's 61st Marine Brigade.
Michael Lee Gareth Jones, who told Russian state television he believes Ukraine is a "cancerous tumour," is currently training as a drone operator with Russia's 61st Marine Brigade.
Bradley Townsend, the 33-year-old Barnsley fisherman whose death confirmed him as the first British mercenary killed fighting for Russia, signed up just ten weeks before he died in Donetsk.
Bradley Townsend, the 33-year-old Barnsley fisherman whose death confirmed him as the first British mercenary killed fighting for Russia, signed up just ten weeks before he died in Donetsk.

Michael Lee Gareth Jones, 40, from Enfield in north London, has been shown off on Russian state television as a propaganda asset after joining Putin's forces in Ukraine. He is currently training as a drone operator with Russia's 61st Marine Brigade and told host Vladimir Solovyov he believes Ukraine is a 'cancerous tumour' that must be 'cut out'. His appearance came just days after Bradley Townsend, a 33-year-old fisherman from Barnsley, became the first British mercenary confirmed killed fighting for Russia.

Jones served briefly in the Royal Gloucestershire, Berkshire and Wiltshire Regiment before leaving, saying he concluded 'we were the aggressors' in Iraq and Afghanistan.

He moved to St Petersburg in 2018, married a Russian woman and has a four-year-old son there, as well as two daughters born in the UK.

When asked what drew him to Russia, Jones told Putin's TV propagandist: 'I followed the signs from the universe and God served me well.'

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