July 4th 2023.
Alexander Garms-Rizzi, a British soldier, was sentenced to 12 months in a military detention centre after going AWOL for six months to fight in Ukraine’s conflict. The 21-year-old sent a message to his unit, admitting he had crossed the border to join pro-Ukrainian forces.
Judge Advocate General Darren Reed noted that Garms-Rizzi had defied orders, created a security risk, and had the potential to cause serious harm by being captured. The military court heard that the soldier, who was fluent in Russian, was deployed to Estonia in November 2021 as part of NATO’s Operation Cabrit.
On leave in March 2022, Garms-Rizzi failed to return two weeks later. He said he could not “stand by and watch things unfold” and admitted to his unit that he had gone to join the war. Colonel Grant Davies, prosecuting, said that Garms-Rizzi had regularly expressed concerns about the situation in Ukraine to colleagues.
Garms-Rizzi was found with foreign military clothing and Ukrainian insignia when he was arrested in Dover. He said he had gone to Ukraine to help the people and was paid by the Ukrainian government. However, there was no evidence found of this. He was also helped carry out medical extractions and did some translation.
In his own defence, Garms-Rizzi said he had not been able to “just stand by and watch things unfold” while his Ukrainian school friends were killed. He said he thought he had done the right thing.
Judge Reed noted that Garms-Rizzi’s actions were “deliberate and pre-meditated”, and that the order not to go to Ukraine was clear. He also noted that Garms-Rizzi was an intelligent and thoughtful young man who had not attempted to cover up what he had done.
Garms-Rizzi’s actions had risked dragging Britain into the war, and his actions had risked the reputation of the British armed forces. He was dismissed from the Armed Forces and sentenced to 12 months in a military detention centre.
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