British veteran shot and blown up by artillery fighting in Ukraine

Too tough to die: British soldier nicknamed Rambo survives being shot multiple times by Russian forces AND being hit by artillery blast while fighting alongside Ukrainian soldiers

• Shareef Amin, 40, served nine years in the British army including in Afghanistan 
• He went to Ukraine shortly after war broke out – initially to provide humanitarian aid but he later trained troops before joining the army himself 
• Amin was badly wounded two weeks ago while operating behind Russian lines 
• He was shot multiple times and blown up by artillery, suffering two punctured lungs and shrapnel wounds to every limb 

A British army veteran who went to fight for Ukraine has survived being shot multiple times and blown up by artillery during the bloody war against Russia.

Shareef Amin, 40, who served nine years in Britain’s 1st Battalion ‘The Rifles’ including two tours of Afghanistan, was wounded two weeks ago while on a reconnaissance mission deep behind enemy lines. 

Amin – nicknamed ‘Rambo’ by his comrades – and his unit were spotted by the Russians, shot at and then relentlessly shelled, leaving him with bullet wounds, punctures to both his lungs and shrapnel embedded in all four limbs. 

Despite suffering horrific injures, Amin was rescued by his comrades and has defied doctor’s expectations and started walking again – though he has lost most of the feeling in his right hand and foot.

Shareef Amin, 40, a veteran of 1st Battalion ‘The Rifles’ who served two tours of Afghanistan, was badly wounded a fortnight ago while fighting in Ukraine (right)

Friends are now fundraising to get Amin – originally from Bristol – back to the UK along with his Ukrainian fiancee Helen Vitvickaja, 33, and her ten-year-old son Platon,

Speaking from his hospital bed, Amin told how he had gone to Ukraine almost as soon as the war broke out in February and initially provided humanitarian support.

But as the fighting ramped up he began using the skills he had learned in the British military to train the Ukrainians, before eventually signing up as a soldier.

Amin and his unit were then attacked by Russian troops while patrolling the frontlines a fortnight ago.

Amin – nicknamed ‘Rambo’ by his comrades – went to Ukraine to provide humanitarian assistance before signing up to fight

He described sheltering in a shallow trench alongside a Ukrainian comrade known as ‘the Professor’ as they were shelled.

He said: ‘[We were] helmet to helmet, hand in hand, as the artillery rounds just kept coming. The next thing I know I hear this almighty thud. 

‘It felt like someone had dragged me underground. I just saw red. Professor’s body just went limp like a rag doll. He landed on top of me.

‘At that point I knew I’d been hit. I thought, “I’m dead here. This is where I die.” So I accepted it. Professor was gone, I couldn’t get him off me.’

Amin recalled shouting to another comrade – Oleh Shumov, known as ‘Sham’ – to say that he was still alive and needed help.

He described how, despite still being under fire, Sham jumped out of his own trench and dragged the Professor’s body away.

It was then that Amin was confronted with the horrifying extent of his own injures: His right hand was hanging off at the wrist and a piece of shrapnel ‘the size of a tin can’ was embedded in his right leg. 

Though he didn’t know it at the time, shrapnel had also found its way under his body armour and into his back, puncturing both lungs.

‘I pushed myself up and felt this almighty agony through my lungs, through my arm,’ he recalled.

‘All I had was my left arm. I had my belt kit around me, my body armour, everything on me. I don’t know how I got the strength to pull myself out of that ditch but I did.

‘As I did, I sort of rolled myself into a front crawl and could see this huge piece of shrapnel sticking out of my leg. It was like a tin can.

‘So I forced myself onto my back, and my commander pulled me away into some sort of cover as the rounds kept coming down.

‘It started to rain and I told my commander “you need to get me off these rocks, I’m lying on rocks here and I’m in agony.”

‘He says “you’re not on rocks mate, that’s the shrapnel that’s gone up through your body armour and into your back.”

‘He said “don’t worry, I don’t know how, but I’m going to get you out of here”.’

Shareef and Sham were soon rescued by Kozak Warrior armoured personnel vehicles and driven for 20 minutes to waiting ambulances and on to hospital.

Three pieces of shrapnel were removed from his body still sit in a glass jar next to his bedside.

At one point, he recalled doctors standing over him and whispering that he wasn’t going to make it. 

Despite his massive injuries he’s defied medics’ expectations and is already walking again – though he still has little feeling in his right hand and foot.

Shareef, who has since been awarded a Ukrainian bravery medal, said: ‘I have no regrets. I couldn’t sit by.

‘If I sat at home on my laurels, despite having skills that can help, what kind of human being am I?’

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