A BRITISH soldier has been killed in a “tragic accident” while watching local troops train with new weapons in Ukraine, the Ministry of Defence has said.
The MoD announced the sad news on its official social media channels today.
The man’s family have been notified after the “tragic accident” which occurred away from the frontlines, according to the MoD.
The full statement said: “It is with deep regret that we must announce that a member of the UK armed forces died in Ukraine this morning, Tuesday December 9.
“He was injured in a tragic accident while observing Ukrainian forces test a new defensive capability away from the front lines.
“The family has been notified and our thoughts are with them at this sad and difficult time.”
However, it is currently unknown what service the individual was in or whether they were a member of the special forces.
It is also unclear what the weapons he was observing were.
Defence Secretary John Healey said he was “devastated by the death” and his thoughts were with their “family, friends and colleagues as they grieve”.
The MoD said it would not comment further.
British special forces are carrying out secret missions inside Ukraine, such as helping train the Ukrainians on pieces of equipment.
A small number of medics are also deployed in Ukraine, as are personnel providing security to the UK’s diplomatic presence.
It is not known how many British troops are in Ukraine training troops to fight against Vladimir Putin’s invasion, but a leaked American military document suggested 50 members of the UK’s special forces were on the ground in 2023.
As of September this year, at least 40 Britons have died fighting for Ukraine.
It comes after Russian leader Putin declared he was prepared to go to war with Europe if peace talks in Ukraine failed.
This is despite the fact Russia has lost more than one million troops, either wounded or killed, during its invasion of Ukraine and the country’s economy is about to go into recession.
Military experts believe it might take up to five years for Russia to build up its armed forces before Putin could invade another country.
But figures obtained by The Sun on Sunday revealed that our government must invest billions more in defence if the UK is to have a chance in any future conflict.
Last week the Royal Navy revealed only 50 per cent of its fleet was at high readiness and was ready for operations.
Army troop numbers are at a historic low and the RAF has less than a third of the combat aircraft it had the last time Britain was preparing for a war with Russia.
The nature of modern conflict is changing rapidly and drones are now playing a major role in Ukraine.
In the past two years, Ukraine has launched around seven million drones against Russian forces.
The UK has an arsenal of around 4,000, which, if used at the same rate as the Ukrainian forces, would last less than 24 hours.