A Briton who has returned home after spending three years volunteering and fighting for Ukraine says he saw Russian forces commit "tonnes" of war crimes. Leon Cribb, from Chichester, West Sussex, is believed to be one of only a small number of UK nationals to have deployed into Russia's Kursk region during Ukraine's incursion last summer.

In an exclusive interview with the Express, the 33-year-old — who made headlines after becoming one of the first British volunteers to speak to the media following Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022 — revealed the harrowing impacts of the war, rare accounts of fighting in Kursk and how he narrowly avoided death. Mr Cribb said he was left "sickened" as he recalled witnessing Vladimir Putin’s forces using a chemical substance in attacks on civilians in the city of Avdiivka. He said: “We would regularly go out at night to observe and take in the scenery and [saw] phosphorus bombs being dropped over the settlement, knowing there were civilians asleep at that time.

"Russian air force or Russian artillery teams firing phosphorus bombs into the clouds and then dropping down onto buildings, knowing that wherever they land they are going to cause a fire."

Mr Cribb added: "They [the Russians] don't give a s***. They have no care whatsoever.

"They think they're going to be conquered by NATO or the West. It's just a decrepit, rotten ideology that Putin wants to proceed with and the Russians have inherited it."

It is against international law to use white phosphorus, which can cause severe burns, as a weapon on civilian populations.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky earlier this year accused Russia of more than 183,000 war crimes.

Mr Cribb travelled to Ukraine on his motorbike shortly after Russia’s invasion, carrying medical supplies.

The then-aspiring paramedic decided to make the journey after seeing pictures of a maternity hospital that had been bombed by Russia.

He was only supposed to deliver the supplies to the border but after learning of people's desperate need, carried on to Kyiv where he decided to stay and volunteer as a medic, rather than returning home.

Mr Cribb helped treat those defending the capital and told the Express he believes he may have been the only foreigner to have been awarded the civilian version of a medal for volunteers who helped protect Kyiv.

Other foreigners were given the military equivalent as were serving with official units at the time, he added.

The West says the Kremlin expected Ukraine would fall in three days but after around a month of fighting, Russian troops began to withdraw from Kyiv.

Mr Cribb remained in the country, providing medical assistance and training in Kharkiv before enlisting in Ukraine's 2nd International Legion.

He said he had no prior military experience, although did join the French Foreign Legion for a "very brief window of time".

Mr Cribb said he isn’t a war tourist and wouldn’t consider anyone he worked with to be one either.

It is not clear exactly how many people have signed up to Ukraine’s International Legion since its inception in 2022, but it is believed to be thousands.

In 2024, Mr Cribb became a recce drone pilot and soldier and took part in the Kursk incursion which saw Ukrainian forces take areas of Russian land Kyiv hoped could be used as a bargaining chip in peace talks.

It was there the Briton was shot in the leg and his helmet narrowly stopped bullet shrapnel from hitting him in the head.

Speaking a year to the day since he was wounded, the former soldier said it was “miraculous” he survived.

The British Government continues to urge people not to visit Ukraine.

More than 40 British volunteers defending Ukraine are known to have died in the war.

Mr Cribb, who returned to the UK in March after his contract with the International Legion ended, said he believes the conflict is “worse than the First World War”.

He cited drones as a major threat and said he was “very grateful” he didn’t have to spend long periods in the frontline trenches.

“Whilst Ukraine has an abundance of brave, diligent, hardworking men and women, they are fast running out of men and women that have the capacity to lead intelligently and bravely in environments that even the devil himself would be proud of.

“I couldn’t think of a more horrifying environment than that and I’m so grateful I only ever had to be in those situations for brief windows of time.

“I’m 33 now, was 32 then, maybe 31, and there are Ukrainians that are 18-years-old defending those trench lines.”

He said the Russians “love to sabotage, dress up [and] pretend to be civilians” and claimed while in Kursk, the Ukrainians were “taking care of their people better than they were”.

In recent days, US President Donald Trump appeared to have shifted his stance on the war as he said Ukraine can win back all of its territory.

Mr Cribb said he believes this is possible but warned: “The amount of bloodshed in order to achieve that would be astronomical, unless there was a complete capitulation or routing of the Russian forces.”

Since returning home, Mr Cribb has started a master’s degree in War Studies but continues to hope peace will return to Ukraine.

The Foreign Office, which the Express contacted for a comment, advises against all travel to most of Ukraine.

It warns the risk to life is “high” for those who volunteer to fight.