A member of the American far-right group known as the 'Boogaloo Boys' fled Ukraine when he was faced with the reality of having to fight Russian armed forces.
Thousands of volunteers from across the world have journeyed to Ukraine to help their armed forces fight off the Russian invasion, which has left many dead and forced millions to flee the country.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine is not going as Vladimir Putin had planned. The death toll on both sides and among civilians is rising, but reports suggest that Russian forces have been caught off-guard by the ferocity of Ukrainian resistance and logistical and supply issues. The US, UK and European Union are also supplying weapons to the Ukrainian armed forces, indicating the level of support the country has.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy first made the appeal for foreign volunteers last month, calling on people who considered themselves to be 'friends of peace and democracy' to sign up and thwart Putin's warmongering.
However, some of the people who have volunteered to go to Ukraine and fight the Russians are getting more than they bargained for, and have fled the country.
The Daily Mail reports that one such example is 28-year-old Henry Hoeft, also known as Henry Locke, a former US Army infantryman associated with the American far-right group the 'Boogaloo Boys'.
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Hoeft spoke of his experiences in Ukraine, claiming he and two others fled the country in an ambulance by pretending to be humanitarian aid workers after his base was attacked and his unit was ordered to go to Kyiv to help repel the Russian invaders.
He said his unit had been ordered into Kyiv with 'no f***ing weapons' and that Ukrainian border guards were 'not letting [us] f***ing leave', claiming he'd heard stories of passports being cut up to prevent foreign volunteers from fleeing.
Describing the situation in Ukraine as a 'trap', Hoeft warned others thinking of volunteering to help Ukraine fight off the Russians not to go.
However, others have hit back at his claims, accusing him of peddling a 'completely false' narrative to cover for his failure to get through the vetting process for volunteers in the group he attempted to join.
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Harrison Josefowitz, a member of the Georgian Foreign Legion, said Hoeft and another individual were 'rejected through our vetting process'.
He said the base that had been hit had been 30 kilometres away from Hoeft's location, and that the vetting process was designed 'to stop those kind of mindset people from getting here'.
If you would like to donate to the Red Cross Emergency Appeal, which will help provide food, medicines and basic medical supplies, shelter and water to those in Ukraine, click here for more information
