EXCLUSIVE Ukrainian commandos 'sent inexperienced Brit, 20, on "suicide mission" into no-man's land then left his body to rot after he was cut down by Russian fire'

Daily Mail​

4 days ago

Ukrainian commandos sent an inexperienced British fighter on a 'suicide mission' before leaving his body to rot in no-man's-land, his heartbroken mother has claimed.
Colby Dolman, 20, was killed when his unit was cut down by Russian fire as they joined forces aiming to liberate the village of Mali Scherbaky in Zaporizhia Oblast, south east Ukraine.
The former carpenter, from Cleethorpes, Lincs, had been in Ukraine just over a year when he was sent on a number of abortive missions alongside more experienced soldiers in an offensive mounted by the National Guard of Ukraine.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, his mother, Tara Benford, 37, said: 'He should never have been sent out, he did not have the experience or the training, it was a suicide mission.
'He was one of four young men who died side by side and they have been left to rot on the battlefield, as far as we are aware he is where he fell more than a month ago.
'It is heartbreaking. Myself, his stepfather and his seven-year-old brother will have no peace or comfort until his body is returned to us but we simply don't know where to turn.
'We have had no help from the Ukrainian authorities. They were happy to have Colby's help when he signed up to train and fight alongside them because he wanted to make a difference in the world.
'But this is the thanks he receives, he is killed on a mission he should never have been sent on and left where he lay.
'I have terrible nightmares where I dream of him lying there and reaching out for help from me or anyone who can just bring him home. It is unbearable.'
The family have now launched a GoFundMe appeal to try to raise £6,000 to bring Colby's body home, saying no help has come from Ukrainian authorities or British officials.
Colby left the UK for Ukraine on March 24th last year and began training for the Ukrainian military on his arrival in Kyiv.
He had no previous experience as a fighter having been unable to win a place as a recruit in the British Army because at the time he had been prescribed an asthma inhaler.
He told his mother he wanted to go and fight in the Ukraine, a prospect which horrified her.
She said: 'I begged him not to go and told him he had no way of knowing what he was walking into. That is something I would now ask any parent to consider very carefully after what has happened to him.
'But he wanted to make a difference, he was angry at what was happening to the people of the Ukraine and he felt he could do something about it. He wanted to go out there and fight and ultimately he was old enough to make his own choices.
'He left last March and was in constant contact. He seemed to have found his calling in life. He was enjoying military life, had fallen in love with the country and his comrades had become great friends.
'Despite the endless worry of him being out there I was pleased to see him happy and proud that as a young man was so determined to do the right thing.'
It was in autumn last year that Colby completed his training and was assigned to the Revanche Tactical Group, formed in March 2022 in response to Putin's invasion.
He found himself fighting under the command of Bohdan Khodakovskyi alongside troops from around the world, including Ukrainian soldiers as well as British, American and Brazilian fighters.
His family feel that although he had learnt a lot and had become a courageous soldier he was not equipped for the battles ahead.
Ms Benford said: 'The mission in Mali Scherbaky seemed doomed from the start, it was the fourth offensive he had been on and I'm convinced he knew he would not be coming back from it.
'On the first offensive Revanche launched, a military vehicle was blown up causing multiple injuries, but no one died.
'In the second one, Colby was part of a team of five in which two of his comrades were killed and the mission aborted for a second time.
'The third attempt on the same village was done during darkness and they wore night vision and thermal cloaks and were moving into position when they realised there was a drone above them.
'They were trapped and there was nothing they could do. The drone dropped an explosive device which actually landed on Colby's foot, but it failed to explode.
'It shook him very badly and he sent a message to me to say 'this mission is f***ed up' and I begged him not to go back there and he promised he would not go back.
'After he died I received messages from members of his unit saying he should never have been asked to go to Mali a fourth time. He didn't have the training or the experience.
'But he was sent again and I suppose he had no option but to obey orders and move out.
'His final message to me was different to any of the others he had sent. Before that he would say 'I love you Mum, I will contact you when I get back, don't worry about me.'
'But his last message said 'the mission is 7-15 days, do not contact anybody before then.'
'I think he knew he would not be coming back and did not want me contacting his friends to ask if he was safe.
'I find it heart-breaking that he went out there feeling that way but he was in no position to refuse his orders.'
Tara's partner Ashley Dolman, 35, and their son Archie Dolman, seven, received the devastating news he had been killed via a soldier from his platoon that he had been killed on May 10th.
One of the four who died alongside him was Gabriel 'Benito' Ferreira Silva, a young Brazilian soldier who Revanche paid tribute to following his death. No similar tribute had been paid to Colby.
It said: 'Benito' was the soul of the company – an ideological and passionate warrior. Gabriel fully embraced the religious, ethical, and ideological principles of our unit, which led him to cross thousands of kilometres from Brazil to join the fight in Ukraine.
'He trained with dedication and was always a model of discipline. Cultural barriers meant nothing to him — he immediately became one of us, fully integrated with the Ukrainian part of the unit.'
Tara has pleaded for help from Labour MP from Grimsby and Cleethorpes Melanie Onn, has contact Downing Street and the British Embassy in Kyiv, all to no avail.
She said: 'We are desperate for help, for someone to help bring my boy home.
'He should be here with us, playing with his younger brother and taking his dogs out in the woods. It's enough to cope with that we have lost him, but the knowledge he is still out there somewhere is more than we can stand.'