voice-over: this is bbc news. we'll have the headlines and all the main news stories for you at the top of the hour, straight after this programme. on the battlefields of ukraine, you won'tjust find local soldiers... slava ukraini! ..but volunteers from all over the world. guatemala, portugal, america. ukrainian officials say 20,000 international volunteers have travelled to help fight back against the russian invasion. many of them came from britain. they needed help, so that's why i got up and went.

i've got a purpose in life out there. you didn't have any military experience previously? 100% civilian. from those who'd never held a weapon to experienced soldiers, british volunteers are fighting and dying alongside the people of ukraine. i didn't find out till the day before he was going. a lot of people are like, "why you are here and why "are you doing this?" is there a kind of war tourism? as i tracked down the people who didn't have to be in this war, we find stories of bravery... get me a chest seal, open the bag. ..and friendship... everyone 0k? i am proud of what i've achieved, i'm proud of the guys who i'm out there with. ..of a search for adventure and of sacrifice. i wish we could've kept him here. we're on our way to the ukrainian border to meet up with a medical team that are helping evacuate

an injured british fighter. but their ambulance has broken down and they've had to get another one, so fingers crossed they'll make it out. thousands of volunteers have made this journey into the conflict and i'm on a mission to find out what they've been up to. sharif from bristol travelled to ukraine a few weeks after the invasion. british volunteers who are ex—military are seen as bringing valuable knowledge and experience. another successful day of training with our team. and with his nine years in the british army, sharif helped teach ordinary ukrainian civilians medical and weapon skills before joining a military unit himself on the front lines. some big stuff's coming up in the next few days, so i'm just making a video to say, hi, and i love everyone.

but not long after he recorded this message, his unit came under attack and sharif was badly injured. had a tough night cos the anaesthesiologist wasn't in so, yeah, that's my life at the moment. i've been in touch with sharif while he spent weeks recovering in a military hospital in the heavily bombarded city of 0desa. say hello to the doctor. off for another operation. wish me luck. now, a british charity is helping him get to the border and back to the uk. but the journey is far from straightforward. apparently, he doesn't have all the right military paperwork, so he might not actually be able to get out. as a contracted soldier with the ukrainian military, he's been told he needs permission to leave and his document still hasn't come through. but with his health at stake, the team take the decision to just get

across the border. you made it! how are you doing? how are you? exhausted but i'm good. i bet, i bet. should we get you in the warm? that would be amazing. helping sharif make thejourney, ewan and craig are medics who are usually evacuating ukrainian refugees. but sharif is now the second injured british fighter they've helped return home. speak to the sergeant, the sergeant was very clear that had it been an ukrainian, they'd have just amputated. meeting sharif is a stark reminder of the realities of war and the cause he chose tojoin. i felt that if i did not step up to the plate, then i would not be true to myself as a human being because i had skills and to sit at home on my laurels and just watch this war happen where i could actually do something that could make a difference, save one life, train one person to use a rifle, teach somebody how to put a tourniquet on their leg.

but to begin with, he says, not all volunteers were welcomed. a lot of people were like, "why are you here and "why are you doing this?" a lot of people are running away from the country. but after a while, a trust was built because we are fighting for a cause that we chose to join. i mean, there is negativity there as well — being called a tourist or whatever else. is there a kind of war tourism? there are a few people like that? there's plenty. they'll go and see a blo—n up building, or they'll go carry a weapon and they'll do something for a month and then, they'll go home. that fizzles out after a while. the attack which nearly killed him happened during an operation near the southern city of zaporizhzhia. we had been on a four—day operation but we pushed a little bit too far. we knew there were three tanks in the area. we pushed so far forward, that it was what we call a come on, where they moved out of the way, waiting for us to come in... right. ..and then, they came

in and give us everything they had. before we knew it, there were rounds coming down and it was just boom, boom, boom. he tried to shelter in a half—dug trench with a ukrainian fighter alongside. and every time a round would come down, i would lean to the left, he would lean to the right and try and grab each other�*s helmets and... yeah. ..get as low as we could and it was only a matter of time and one of the rounds just sort of landed between our legs and blew upwards. i crawled out and then, that's when the russians opened up the small arm fire and took out my left arm. gunfire. what was going through your mind? i was positive that i was going to die. ijust thought, "i'm going to sufferfor an hour "and then die". it is not like the british army, where we have got some helicopters to come and pick us up. yeah. we've got no morphine — it doesn't work like that out here. it is old school, second world war stuff. but their commander managed to get shareef out alive. he finally got a kozak vehicle to drive cross open ground

under tank fire, picked us up and drove us away. with two punctured lungs, and saw my hand hanging off. the right shoulder was split open, the top of the right arm was shot and the bone�*s been destroyed, the forearm has been blown apart, the form has been ripped out and the wrist is been taken apart. my stomach was torn open and put back together. what was it like recovering in that hospital? you're awake for these surgeries most of the time. it's time to continue the journey. speaks ukrainian. shareef�*s ukrainian fiancee is coming, too, and there's little time to lose. he's to be transferred to a safe hospital in bristol, where surgeons are going to try and save his hand. if he stays in ukraine, he's going to lose his hand. fighters aren't the only ones risking their lives

in this conflict. ewan and craig have been travelling to some of the worst—hit areas. we've been bringing people back across the border. i couldn't have sat at home and watched what was happening and not come out and actually take part. how do you fund this? a lot of personal money has gone into this and ultimately, we rely on donations. the team have organised a medical repatriation flight back to bristol. despite life—changing injuries, shareef is still holding on to a determination to return to the frontline. i'm going back. you still want to go back? there is nothing else in this world that i want more than to be there with my boys. you nearly died. if it means that much to you, then you're not going to start something you ain't gonna finish. it's an honour. but there'll be some road to recovery. well, this is the last leg of the journey and he's nearly home. they are bringing aden and they're getting us back. you're going to be missing him?

of course, but i see him very soon — i hope. ready? ready. we're ready. thank you, boys. thank you so much. you have no idea. it is straight to the hospital for me, so, not a lot of bristol that i'll be seeing it for a while. after nine months in the conflict, he's back on british soil. his a story of survival has caught the attention of the newspapers, who have given him the nickname �*rambo'. the call for volunteers to enlist in the ukrainian military came from the president himself at the start of the invasion. "to the citizens of the world," he said, "come and fight "side by side with ukraine". in what he called the beginning of a war against europe.

i can understand why ukraine's been welcoming volunteers who have combat experience to help take on the russian army, but what about those who don't? these guys are getting together for the first time since being on the frontlines and they've agreed to share a few war stories with me from months in the trenches. why did you go? so, i seen what was going on in the news. ithought, yeah, "they're firing on civilians here — "this is just like terrorists what they're doing". you did not have any military experience beforehand? 100% civilian. no military experience. i tried tojoin the military when i was younger but i couldn't get in but i could put all my heart

and soul injoining. seen a facebook advertisement — it was all in ukrainian but i translated it. "if you know how to handle a gun, contact us," so i gave them a ring. just told them that i'd been in the guard — like cadet experience. i know it's nothing much. but they said, "we'll give you a month's training "and we'll send you out into the frontline, "in the kharkiv district". after travelling across ukraine, theyjoined a battalion with other british and international volunteers fighting in the east. 0h, damn! we got to this new place. they metjames, aged 21, who'd quit the british army to go. they needed help, so i knew i could fight, that was what i was trained to do, so that's why i got up and went. and tim, who spent time in afghanistan. this is where we sleep. and they began filming their experiences along the way. they issued a rifle about the time we get a volunteer contract — here's where you're going.

all we knew was dig a hole, watch. did you feel you were up to it? i did wonder, "0k, what have i got myself into here?" but yeah, it felt natural. as they learned to become soldiers, it was eye—opening even for those with experience. in the british army, i've never come under tank fire, you know? that's not something that happens in the british army. we have the tanks, we have the helicopters, we have the fast air and things like that. here, it's all against you. and it wasn't long before they were involved in intense fighting. let's go! once you get the first firefight over, you're watch videos of fire fights. then when you're there and the rounds do go out, my training kicked in. the first time ever i experienced combat, i was in a school. we got hit by multiple missiles and the intel we got, five tanks approaching

and we all ran out. i rememberjust there was a mud hilland i rememberwalking up as i looked up, a tank round came straight through— the bushes, straight for me. we heard on the radio, "0ne tank destroyed. "two tanks destroyed. "three tanks destroyed. " that split—second, i didn't know if i was coming out of that situation. i thought i was going to get killed right here, right now. it was james's first experience of many coming underfire from russian tanks. whoa! bleep. this round missing him by inches. everyone 0k? it has landed right next to me. i can't hear nothing! i can't hear a thing! as the ukrainian frontlines pushed forward, the group were involved in many operations to recapture ground, often encountering abandoned russian positions along the way. so, the russians

was here yesterday. ukrainian military, myself and my teams, found it, pushed the russians out. civilians are happy. and much of the fighting involved old—school trench warfare. we were 600 metres from russians at all times. it was literally our treeline, their treeline and a field in—between. sound travels further and you could hear them talking. and life in the trenches was a constant game of cat and mouse with the enemy. woo! 0h, bleep! so we went on this attack on independence day. the whole of the ukrainian frontline pushed forward. i rememberjust going up the back of the tree line and five prisoners was there. what have we got here? a couple of russian prisoners. how does that work? they surrender, they surrender. quite sad to see. they were either really young or really old. they didn't want to be there. it was strange. it made it feel real. did you feel sorry for them?

yeah, i empathised. my biggest fear out there were actually getting captured. five russian prisoners, surrendered. _ i wanted to kill them. did you? i wanted to kill them. there was a high chance they could have killed some of my very good friends, these guys we had captured. they weren't crying. they were probably laughing about it. they only cried when they've been caught. "i'm a conscript. "i never meant to do it. "i got sent here." ukrainian authorities send blanket text messages to russian soldiers' phones, telling them surrender and they won't be harmed. how do you treat them? we just hand them over to the ukrainian authorities. did you speak to them? yeah, i said a few words to them. i said a few words in his ear. i wanted to give them something to remember. gunfire. we've got to get out. as the months go by, it's clear the risks become routine. you can accept that any second,

any moment, anything, and this moment could be the worst you have or the last moment the guy next to you has or two trenches down the line. in august, a british volunteer from norfolkjoined the unit. in august, a british volunteer from norfolkjoined their unit. we were close, always close, looked up to him as an older brother. he could light up a room, he really could. craig mackintosh was a landscape gardener. hello, darling. he was funny, he would always do some crazy thing to make us laugh. we was really close growing up. he always wanted to go in the army ever since he was little. he would have all his toy soldiers. he always played with them. but when he travelled to ukraine, his family had little warning. i didn't find out until the day before he was going, he said not

to stress and worry. and, yeah, that's the first i've heard about it. what was your reaction? i was gutted. did you ever try to talk him out of it? all the time. even on the way to the airport, like, just, yeah, anything to get him to come home, but he had his heart set on it. initially i was very angry. it didn't make sense to me. i thought at first, why would you leave everyone and not tell anyone, and then i thought, wow, what a courageous thing to do. what i remember about craig, we called him pikey, - his call sign were i pikey, he loved it. he'd found his place there, you know, he were happy. but the group were about to undertake one of their most dangerous operations. i might message him on a tuesday and i would hear from him on thursday or maybe friday. one day i text him and never got nothing back. we were just on this big counteroffensive and this was the actual last firefight we got into that day. we were in russian territory, the russians did not know we were in their territory. one of our friends,

an australian friend, he was digging a trench, so ijust was sat on the edge of the trench. you know you get the feeling someone's behind you? i looked behind me, surely enough there was someone there. he was only ten metres away from me, looking all confused, like that, like, "what are these guys doing here? "they're our guys? " he thought you were russian? yeah, he thought we were. that's when i seen his face change. i seen he was planning something. he had time to see every single... he looked around. he made eye contact with me, he made eye contact withjed, everyone behind us. i was getting screamed at behind, "make sure it's not friendly, make sure it's not friendly!" so at this point i was.... "put your gun down, put your gun down!" dropped to the floor, but he raised his gun, so i shot him six times. but the russian soldier had already fired his own shots. ijust remember looking and shouting back "jed's down!" and "jed's dead." and i heard behind me, "craig's dead." it was 25 august that i found

out that he had been shot. it crushed me. after that firefight, i looked down, and to be honest, i cried, i cried. not because i was scared, butjust seeing it up close and personal, you are talking with someone, having a laugh with someone, and the life isjust gone. just gone within a click of the fingers. the police came to myl dad's and they told us. i didn't think he was going to go on the frontline. - ididn't think that- was going to happen. i thought he was going to be helping, - but away from the front line. i think most people die of cancer or common illness, not being shot out at war. i don't know, ijust didn't believe it, it didn't feel real. friends and family said their final goodbyes.

it was heartbreaking. but he got the send off that he deserved. like he said, no—one else would understand, he has got to do it for his own reasons and that's what he done. same as a lot of people. they feel like they can make a big difference, which they are. he was happy and you've got to be happy for him. your brother's a hero, but, yeah, still won't bring him back, though. its hard — and my children miss him. pikey and jed, we're . not going forget them. pikey and jed, we're - never going forget them. jed, pikey, ninja — i think about them every day, every day. they will always be remembered by me as very good people. like they were. music plays. do you think the british volunteers out there actually make a difference to

the overall war effort? yeah. yeah, big time as well. like the ukrainians see us and it makes them feel like they are not alone. i'm proud of what i've achieved, i'm proud of the guys that we were out there with, we did a lot of good, we took a lot of ground. it's impossible to know the exact number of british volunteers in ukraine as there's now a number of battalions that accept soldiers from abroad, but ukraine's international legion says there continues to be a steady stream of volunteers willing to join the fight and that the uk is still one of the most represented countries within its ranks. i would never tell anyone to go out and do what i've done. i believe i've saved a few lives and i'm a better person

for what i've done. a lot of people who have sat watching it on the news and saying "i'd go if they didn't have this, "if i didn't have that." i had a good job. i had me own house. give it all up. some people would say you are crazy. people call us crazy, people call us crazy. james dee in leeds, - about to go back to ukraine. we're ready for it. slava ukraini! what is it about it that draws people back? i think it's the brotherhood. civilians don't understand it. i've got a purpose in life out there, i'm happy, i've got my friends, and i've got a purpose. i'm connected up to machines and i'm in very, very good hands. was it worth it? i would do it all again now, even knowing my outcome. it's probably the fact that i was doing something that

i loved and i believed in. he found what he'd always been searching for. in the photos i've seen, he looks like he was happy. i wish we could have kept him here. it's not that we love killing or we love bloodshed, - it's because in those situations— humanity really- does shine through. hello there. 0ur weather story for friday is a tale of two halves, the best of the weather once again through scotland and northern ireland, closest to this area of high pressure. these weather fronts will introduce some cloud and rain at times, be a bit of a nuisance, and that nagging easterly wind

still making it feel rather raw on exposed east coasts. so first thing in the morning, the rain quite heavy across norfolk, lincolnshire, into the east midlands, gradually drifting towards wales. there'll also be some showery outbreaks of rain across essex and kent. but north of that, not a bad start. it will be a chilly start. a touch of frost not out of the question across the grampian, but at least in scotland and northern ireland, you will have some sunshine and it will continue like that for much of the day. that easterly breeze, though, always making it feel cooler on exposed east coasts. sheltered western areas seeing the best of the sunshine and warmth. and as we go through the afternoon, we'll see a line of more persistent rain stretching across the south coast. sunny spells and scattered showers driven in by that strong easterly breeze coming in off the north sea. so 10—12 degrees once again on exposed east coasts. further west, we could see 16 or 17 degrees. favoured spots once again, northern ireland and western scotland. here, the pollen will be high — it's tree pollen at this time of year. medium, perhaps, across much of central and eastern england. now, as we move into the early hours of saturday, we are likely to see this weather front producing

some showery outbreaks of rain through scotland and northern ireland, and at the same time, we've got some showery outbreaks of rain into the south—west. sandwiched in between the two, drier and brighter, and once again, much of scotland will see some sunshine. but the temperatures really subdued by then, 11—14 degrees. and as we move out of sunday into monday, we'll start to see this colder northerly flow take over and you really will start to notice the difference right across the country. so on sunday, we'll see some showery outbreaks of rain just drifting away from the east. drier behind it, but that northerly wind will make it feel quite chilly at times. so temperatures really falling away in scotland, 7—ii degrees by then. ilt degrees the maximum on sunday. and that's going to be the trend as we move into the week ahead. it will turn wetter and then much colder.

live from washington, this is bbc news. welcome to viewers on pbs in america. the us treasury secretary calls for a constructive economic relationship with china. criminal charges are dropped against the actor alec baldwin over a fatal movie set shooting. hello, i'm sumi somaskanda. welcome to the show. the us treasury secretary appears to be trying to tone down tensions between the us and china. in a speech thursday, janet yellen called for a healthy economic relationship between the two rivals. we remain the largest and most dynamic economy in the world. we also remain firm in our

conviction to defend our values and national security.