A Scottish garage owner fighting on the front line in Kyiv told how a Ukrainian fighter was “vaporised” by a Russian bomb.
The Record told yesterday how untrained Adam Ennis, from Biggar, is putting his life on the line to fight Putin’s “evil” invasion of Ukraine.
Adam, the only untrained soldier in an international platoon of 50 men, said his unit has seen horrors on the streets of Kyiv - including one Ukrainian soldier being killed by a Russian shell, leaving no trace of his body.
He is fearful that the Russians will pulverise Kyiv with devastating shellfire as they will be unable to overcome the resistance from within the city by Ukrainian fighters and their foreign allies.
Adam, 35, also revealed that he has met three other Scots fighters since arriving in Ukraine two weeks ago.
The trained soldiers were initiated into battle companies at the Yavoriv base, near Lviv, where he was taken before being deployed in the Ukrainian capital.
That base was hit by a devastating rain of Russian cruise missiles at the weekend, with more than 100 international mercenaries and volunteers killed.
Adam said: “We are taking each day as it comes but it’s quite obvious that the Russians are getting closer each day. It’s hard to say but it seems the main barrage is around six kilometres away and getting closer.
“We’re constantly aware of the shelling but we know that buildings around us are likely to be shaking in the next few days, so we are preparing for that as best we can.
“Our platoon witnessed a Ukrainian soldier being hit by a shell and he simply vanished without trace. It appeared he was vaporised, just wasn’t there any more.
“It’s appalling to think about and even worse to witness it.”
He said people back in Scotland should be aware that he is working with a well-equipped force, with proper weaponry and highly trained special forces officers in command.
He said: “The centre of Kyiv is being held with really clear direction, with many thousands of soldiers and commanders who know what they are doing.
“I am fearful that the Russians won’t have the courage to take on the Ukraine forces on the city streets, as they will never win that way. That means they may result to heavy barrage. That could be endless and would be disgraceful, as this is a beautiful city.
“The reality is that we have the best positions sealed up, all the most effective sniper positions scoped out and there will be properly coordinated defence for anything that comes.”
He added: “The Russians have had massive problems in relatively small places like Kherson and Mariupol but what they will face in Kyiv is another thing altogether.”
Adam, who runs the Big B’s Garage in Biggar, said he’s met three Scots so far, all on similar moral crusades to defend the free world against oppression.
He said: “I met one guy from Glasgow when we were stationed near Lviv. I had originally been put with the Foreign Legion in a main barracks area but I then got chosen for a separate unit, which was housed in military tents out the back.
“It seemed to me that these guys were all properly trained soldiers, many from special forces, and I think the Glasgow guy was in that mould.
“I heard his accent and we had a chat because there weren’t many Scots there and the accent stands out like a sore thumb.
“He was moved out to Kyiv the day before me, so I know he wasn’t killed in the attack the other day.”
Adam said he also spotted one of the other Scots while on patrol in Kyiv.
His unit is staying on the basement of a Kyiv restaurant and his platoon joins with several others at breakfast time, amassing around 400 men.
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