Exclusive:
Former British convict and drug addict Aiden Minnis has been trying to lure others on social media to join him in Russia writing ‘if you want to join the Russian Federation Armed Forces, get at me’
One of the British traitors fighting for Russia is recruiting other mercenaries to take up arms against Ukraine.
Aiden Minnis encourages other Brits to join him and gives advice and instructions on how they can make it to the front line. In a Facebook message, he boasts: “British men and women are contacting me wanting to join the Russian war effort”, alongside a laughing emoji, strong arm and Russian flag.
The former jailbird, drug addict, alcoholic and National Front member was exposed in March by our sister paper the Daily Mirror as a soldier in a Russian battalion in Ukraine’s Donbas region. And last month this paper revealed that Minnis had posed with a Russian passport in a boast about being granted Russian citizenship.
Since then the 37-year-old has been trying to lure others on social media, writing: “If you want to join the Russian Federation Armed Forces, get at me.” When one friend says he would “sign up in a flash if I could”, Minnis replies: “It’s not that hard. Visa and plane ticket my friend.” In another post bragging about his Russian passport, he crows: “Fight for the Russian military and you’ll get one.”
Conversations from followers suggest Minnis is helping people travel to Russia in private messages. When one man asks when he will reply to his message, he writes: “I’ll get back to you. Get visa my friend. Start the process.” Another man replies: “Once I get my woman and kids taken care of sign me up. Every day I dream about being there to help my Russian brothers and sister.
“Life is short and there’s no better glory than to fight for what is right.” Minnis travelled to Ukraine in January to join the Russian army where he has worked as a sapper, or combat engineer, laying mines and explosives. Last week he claimed he was being moved to a storm battalion – an assault unit where enlisted convicts are often deployed – and things were going to “get tougher”.
Even so, last week he posted photos of what he claimed was his wedding to a Russian woman called Irina. In other posts, Minnis has told of his love for Russia and Putin – and hatred of Britain. Before going to Russia he was living in a homeless hostel in his hometown of Chippenham, Wilts, after serving time for violent assaults.
He is one of two known Brits fighting for Russia in Ukraine. They have been branded traitors and face arrest if they return here. The other, drifter Ben Stimson, 48, a drug addict from Oldham, was convicted of terror offences and jailed for more than five years after spending four months in the Donbas region with pro-Russian militia in 2015. They could be charged under anti-terrorism laws or the Foreign Enlistment Act 1870, which makes it illegal to join the armed forces of a country fighting a nation at peace with Britain.
