A HERO who deserted the British Army to fight for Ukraine is in line for a posthumous bravery medal after sacrificing his life to save three comrades. Former Royal Welsh Fusilier Alexander Garms-Rizzi, 23, acted as “bait” to draw fire away from three Ukrainian troops during a frontline battle. The trio reached the safety of a bunker - though one was seriously wounded - in the bloody “meat grinder” clash with Vladimir Putin’s forces in the east of Ukraine.

But Alexander was fatally wounded by a Russian drone in the bloody “no man’s land” between the warring forces. And his commander and comrades saluted his courage last night as they mourned the young Brit being hailed as one of Ukraine’s most valiant frontline warriors. His grieving best pal - a 28-year-old Finnish volunteer with the call sign “Finn” - told The Sun: “He was a born fighter and died how he would have wanted - with honour while helping others.”.

Alexander was on a British Army NATO exercise in Estonia when he went awol in March 2022, a month after Russia invaded. He sent his British commander a message admitting he had crossed the border to join Ukrainian forces, declaring he had gone to fight “a great evil.”. But he returned to the UK voluntarily after two months in the trenches and was jailed for a year by a UK court martial for defying direct orders to stay put.

The Sun’s team in Ukraine learned last week that Alexander - an infantryman with “Recon Team Kilo” - had returned to the embattled nation after serving eight months of his sentence. We arranged to interview him in a cellar cafe at Kramatorsk near the eastern frontline - but he suddenly cancelled the meeting after being sent on “an important task”. Three days later we discovered that it had been his last mission, when his Ukrainian commander broke the news that he had fallen in battle on Monday.

Alexander - whose call sign was “Sasha” - has been confirmed dead even though it has been too dangerous to recover his body from the frontline forest where he fell. His Ukrainian commander told The Sun yesterday: “He was a very brave guy and very  experienced. “Back in 2022, he was one of the first foreign legionnaires to come to Ukraine. “On the day he died Sasha and three Ukrainian soldiers were in a dugout which was badly hit and collapsed.

“Sasha was trapped under logs, but the guys managed to dig him out and realised they needed to run about 500 meters to the next safe shelter. “There were enemy drones, shelling and surveillance so Sasha suggested a plan. “He said he would distract the drones by running in a circle while the others ran to safety - and that’s what they did. “In the end two of the guys survived unscathed, though the other one was seriously wounded near the dugout - but Sasha didn’t make it.

“They later searched for him with drones and found his body, but it hasn’t been evacuated yet. “He took a different path and was only about 100 metres from safety when he was hit. He died a hero.”. The commander said Alexander’s body has proved impossible to recover in a forested area of the battle-scarred Kupiansk section of the frontline. Comrades managed to reach him under cover of fog and dragged him 50 metres towards their lines but were forced to abandon the mission after coming under withering Russian fire.

The commander said: “Our guys got close and dragged his body for about 50 meters but then the fog lifted, and drones started attacking them. “The terrain makes it impossible to carry a body safely as this is the forest - it’s too dangerous.”. The commander said Alexander was one of the most popular and enthusiastic members of his foreign legion unit - and also a master of high tech weaponry. He had already been decorated for “Exceptional Courage” after single handedly thwarting a Russian offensive by blasting a tank with a British-supplied NLAW shoulder-launched missile.

The commander said: “He was one of the first to master NLAW rockets and used one to stop a Russian advance towards Mykolaiv. “Sasha was the first to step up, got close to the tank, and destroyed it, stopping the attack single-handedly. “He did this kind of thing constantly - he would selflessly fight for himself and his comrades but always with caution and skill. “He was a machine gunner but versatile and could handle many weapons and was training to be a sniper - he had so much potential.”.

Grieving comrades told yesterday how Alexander boosted morale with jokes and banter, describing the hell of frontline combat as “Jackass Ukraine” after the TV prank show. He also kept a menagerie of pets including cats and dogs and even a family of ducklings who kept troops stocked with fresh eggs. Close pal Finn told The Sun yesterday: “Sasha was very well liked by everyone. He saved lives - both Ukrainians and foreigners and our commanders loved him as well.