British teenager killed by Russian drone 'minutes into first mission' in Ukraine
British teenager killed by Russian drone 'minutes into first mission' in Ukraine
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James Wilton, aged 18, was cremated in Ukraine after his death last July. An 18-year-old British volunteer who enlisted to help defend Ukraine was killed by a Russian drone just minutes into his first mission, according to a report. James Wilton, from Huddersfield, travelled to Ukraine aged 17 and with no prior military experience, where he was reportedly given a crash training course by Ukrainian instructors.
But his first mission on Ukraine’s eastern front on 23 July 2024 was also to be his last, after James and his comrades found themselves being hunted by multiple Russian drones in an open field with no cover to run for. A US volunteer, named only as Jason, who risked his life to retrieve James’s body and lost his foot after stepping on a landmine four days later, said that his friend “never stood a chance” in the face of the Russian drone.
“It was James’s first and last mission,” he told The Sun. “We had to cross an open field with no trees, no cover, nothing, to resupply other soldiers. I was team leader and there were six of us traversing in groups of two, 20 metres apart. “Myself and James were the last two. 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 okay.”.
But Jason recalled his surprise when he suddenly saw his friend stop halfway across the field. He said: “Then I heard it – a buzz in the air above us – and thought: ‘Oh f***.’ It took me two or three seconds to spot it, then I saw it and realised we were in the worst possible situation we could be in – in an open field with nowhere to run. “I could tell it was a ‘drop drone’ armed with a bomb and its pilot was trying to decide who to kill – me or James,” he added.
“He wanted us closer together so he could kill both of us with one bomb. Then another drone appeared. I told him I was going to start shooting then he turned and said: ‘I’m going to run.’. “We both started sprinting with two drones on top of us – then a third one appeared. 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.
